Metamorphosis
by LadyKayoss
Summary: What if General Hein was right about Aki? A young man faces a difficult task to prove Hein was correct.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:  For once, I can claim ownership.  Erik is mine!  Everything else belongs to Square.

Author's Note:  This is a rather twisted idea I had the other night, and I couldn't get it out of my head until I wrote it down.  Is it interesting enough that I should continue?  I know I need another long story like I need a hole drilled through my head, but what do you think?

METAMORPHOSIS

Prologue

For the first time in years, the sky was grey and heavy with rain.  That perfectly suited the mood of the young man named Erik who was standing awkwardly at the crowd's edge.

He stood by himself, as if the crowd sensed he was different from them, that his thoughts were as dark and stormy as the clouds rather than celebratory.

Ironic, really, since this was a funeral.  They bodies had already been laid to rest, with great difficulty, into the hard ground, and the occasion had somehow become a festive occasion.  People from all walks of life had gathered; citizens who had lived their whole lives in safety, scientists who had worked ceaselessly on the defeat of the Phantoms, military men and women whose lives had been lived in danger; even those who had barely escaped the New York catastrophe had all gathered.

_Huh.  I could teach them a thing or two about survival.  They make pushing their way through a crowd and trampling innocents in their efforts to save their own hides sound like a noble deed.  Erik eyed these survivors, gathered at a place of honor, with thinly veiled contempt.  He shifted his weight, wishing he could sit down but knowing he couldn't until the ceremony was over.  He'd spent the last two years in zero-G on board the Zeus Station, and his damaged muscles could barely support him in normal gravity._

They should let me sit.  I'm one of the scientists who supposedly escaped the Zeus before a madman blew it all to hell.  Another "hero."  No one's ever bothered to mention we were evacuated, not escapees!

Instead, he was forced to stand with the other Zeus Cannon survivors, honoring the brave Captain Gray Edwards and the squad who had died for him.  While Erik admitted that Edwards's sacrifice had been a genuinely noble deed, the things Erik knew made the captain's demise seem more like a waste.

A stage had been set up, and at a podium, some general was droning on about the virtues of Captain Edwards and his Deep Eyes squad.  Erik ignored him, his eyes sweeping the tables set off to the side, searching.

There.  Wearing an elegant black dress was a small woman sitting next to an elderly man.  Her face glistened with tears as she listened to the general's elegy.  She didn't look like a hero, Erik thought, just a frail human woman who had lost all those she held dear.  As he watched, the woman buried her head in her hands, and her companion patted her shoulder.

Dr. Aki Ross.  Dr. Sid.  Two people whose names were on the tongues of every person, two who had won places in the hearts of every war-weary man and woman of this world.

There was silence for a moment as the general finished his speech, then Aki composed herself and walked onto the stage.  She thanked the general for his touching speech, then moved on to her own emotional monologue.  Erik saw many people around him wipe tears from their eyes.  Erik himself was affected, though not in the way the others were.  _She sounds so full of pain…  Could he have been wrong?_

Aki's speech shifted into a presentation of a plaque commemorating those lost in her efforts to save the world, set here, in the old Central Park of New York City.  She shed tears for those who had died in the fall of New York, and Erik couldn't help but think of another who'd been lost, who none would mourn for.  None would weep for a traitor.

A clap of thunder made Aki jump, and that heralded a downpour the likes of which none had ever seen.  _I don't see why the scientists think this will help; the ground's too hard for the water to soak in and be of any use.  Erik smiled slightly as the crowd began to scatter.  __Plus, this was badly timed.  Why did they think their little storm would wait until after this was over?  Just because they created it…_

The crowd hurried towards the buildings that had been cleaned and set aside for the occasion, splattering through deepening puddles and crying out whenever lightning flashed across the sky.

Erik waited for the bulk of the crowd to leave, then limped towards the plaque.  Despite his exhaustion, he wasn't eager for the press of bodies in the building; it made him all to aware of his body's own shortcomings.

Mud splattered his silver environmental suit, so like the one Aki had worn, and his thick, dark grey jacket that identified him as Zeus Station personnel clung tightly to him, but he ignored the discomfort.  He paused by the plaque, lifting his face to let the rain sluice through his long auburn hair, and to splatter against his glasses.  _Beautiful, he thought._

He turned to the plaque, his fingers tracing the words carved on the surface.  FOR THOSE WHO DIED TO GIVE US PEACE, it said.  Beneath it, the names of the Deep Eyes squad who had helped Aki were engraved.  Below that was another message about the loss of New York.

Erik's fingers touched the wet stone, the tips tracing the letters H-E-I-N in the water, and watching as the rain ruined his own little epitaph.  None but himself would ever warn the man.  None would even realize what he'd been trying to do for the planet.

An eerie cry sounded from somewhere, and Erik froze.  A Phantom…  His heart raced as he recalled the worst time of his life, when he'd lived in constant dread of that cry… But it had sounded wrong somehow.  It had almost sounded like it was coming from the disturbed earth below him…

Erik turned around, his legs nearly giving out under him in the process.  He nearly fell again when he saw the figure in the rain.  She stood ankle deep in the rainwater, arms uplifted.  Her black dress clung tightly to her body.  Dr. Aki Ross seemed not to have heard the cry.  Perhaps he had imagined it.

Aki's eyes opened and met his.  She smiled, a sorrowful smile that tore at his heart.  She had been through so much, yet lived on.  He admired the bravery, the strength of will that let her go on living.

And he deeply regretted that he had to kill her.


	2. A Dream to End the Nightmare

Disclaimer: With the exception of Erik and some random soldiers, I don't own any characters in this story.  
  
Author's Note: Why am I writing this? I wanted to do something a little dark. And I wanted to create my own character. Since I rarely do it, I hope Erik's coming out okay. I know he doesn't exactly have good intentions towards Aki, but give him a chance!  
  
METAMORPHOSIS  
  
Chapter One  
  
A Dream to End the Nightmare  
  
The verdant plains were no less magnificent under the light of the huge, luminous moon and the scattering of unfamiliar stars. Aki found herself waist-deep in a field of grass gilded silver in the moonlight, and it rippled and whispered in the soft breeze.  
  
Aki lightly brushed the plant tips with her fingers, then plucked a short length to examine. It looked like normal grass, though Aki noticed its veins were branched rather than parallel, and it curled in a helix. Alien, yet familiar.  
  
She took a step forward, then another, feeling her way through the sea of plants towards the rusted hulks of the ships the Phantoms had deployed in battle. It was difficult to believe this had been the site of such a ferocious onslaught, but the twisted rock formations were the same. And underfoot, she heard the occasional crunch of a charred Phantom's corpse breaking underfoot, invisible under the grass.  
  
Aki's meanderings brought her to the edge of the grassy plain to rockier ground, where the scattered bodies of Phantoms rested in the shadow of one of their ships. She knelt down and picked up one fragile skull, blackened by the heat that had destroyed their planet. A flower had been growing out of one eye socket, and Aki plucked it, gently placing it in her hair. She smiled, then tightened her grip on the skull, which crumbled to black dust. She wiped her hands on her silver uniform, then proceeded past the remains.  
  
Around her, a low cry began to build, but Aki ignored it. After all, what did she have to fear from the Phantoms?  
  
* * *  
  
Lightning ripped across the sky, and thunder rattled the windows. Aki jolted awake, heart pounding. When she realized the weather had awoken her, she laughed quietly. And here she'd thought the rain would put her to sleep…  
  
She lay on her bed, watching the flashes of lightning illuminating her pitch black room. As she watched, she wondered. What had her dream meant? It was a Phantom dream, like those that had haunted her for the past three years. But this one had felt different, somehow. Peaceful. Perhaps the glimpse of the alien's lush planet had given her hope for her own world.  
  
One day, this world will live again… Aki climbed out of bed and crossed the room to her balcony. She pushed the doors open, and a torrent of rain instantly drenched her. The nightgown she wore clung to her body tightly, and she laughed at the unfamiliar sensation of standing in the rain.  
  
If only Gray could see this… If she shut her eyes, she could imagine he was by her side, that his arm was around her shoulder, that the wind's fierce caress was Gray's touch… But no. Aki wouldn't do this to herself. Gray was in Central Park, buried with his squad. In another few days, all the bodies of the New York citizens would be gathered and cremated, their ashes spread over the same park that would become a memorial. Then the real reason for Aki's return, for this gathering of people, would begin: The restoration of New York City.  
  
Aki wasn't certain she wanted to reclaim the dead city; there were so many bad memories here… But restoring the city to life would boost morale.  
  
She didn't see how a storm would hasten the process. Aki folded her arms over the balcony's edge, her eyes on the flooded streets below her. The ground was almost rock solid and couldn't take in the water fast enough. They should have listened to Dr. Sid before playing God…  
  
Aki turned around and went to grab a towel. I might as well try to grab some sleep. We have a busy day planned tomorrow.  
  
* * *  
  
Aki wasn't the only one who lay awake that night. Erik was sprawled across his bed, his ears assaulted by the snores of his two roommates. He wished he could have gotten his own room. Being stuck with strangers made him shy. And strangers tended to act as thought he weren't there. It was as if they thought no one with his battered body should exist.  
  
Their silence suited him just fine. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, and he didn't want to drag anyone into what he had to do.  
  
Lightning flashed, playing across the length of the dagger he held in his hand. The finely honed edge was briefly visible before being swallowed by shadows.  
  
With this knife, he was going to end a life. The thought chilled him. He'd never killed anyone before, but he knew the reason for it, and had made a vow. But at times like this, he wondered if he would have the courage to take that life. After all, he'd failed to end his own.  
  
"You want to die?" The voice asked neutrally.  
  
Erik could only nod wordlessly. His body lay swathed in bandages. Most of the wounds were already half-healed, but had healed wrong. Putting his body back together had cost a fortune, and even then he would never recover completely. There was so much pain…  
  
"Fine. Go ahead. End your life." The speaker slammed a knife, one of the Deep Eyes regulation daggers, into the synthwood of the table beside Erik's bed. "When you can pull the dagger free, you can slit your wrists, your throat, whatever." There was anger in the tone now. "I don't care. But you're not the only one who's lost something." The speaker stormed from the room. Erik reached trembling fingers for the knife's hilt, and nearly sobbed as his weak tugging failed to free it. This was cruel! Why couldn't he just die? Why couldn't he have just let himself die when he had the chance?  
  
Because then he'd still had hope his life could be restored to normal…  
  
Erik's fingers clung to the knife. That had been six years ago. By the time he'd healed enough to pull the knife free, he'd lost the will to die.  
  
Would he lose the will to kill as well? Erik shuddered. He'd never had the will to begin with. Why did he have to do this? His thoughts turned to Aki, who had splashed in the puddles with an almost childlike delight earlier that day. How could she be evil?  
  
Erik replaced the knife – the same knife he'd been given all those years ago – in its hidden sheath inside his jacket.  
  
He'd have to do it. He'd have to find a way to get her alone and end it all before it started. It could take days, but he would kill her.  
  
It wouldn't matter what happened to him afterward.  
  
* * *  
  
Dawn came, revealing muddy, flooded streets clogged with debris from the dead city. Watermarks showed that the water was draining, though very slowly.  
  
Aki sloshed through the water, eying the leaden sky. It was a dismal start to such an important occasion. She hoped the dreary weather didn't dampen people's spirits.  
  
Speaking of which… Aki turned and went back to the main building, where a large breakfast was laid out for the waking people. One of the first awake, standing a little ways from the rest of the crowd, was the man she'd seen outside yesterday when everyone else had run away from the storm.  
  
He stood awkwardly; crookedly, as if there was something not quite right with his limbs. He limped when he walked, and his grip on his breakfast tray seemed weak.  
  
Someone knocked into him, and he dropped his tray. The man who'd bumped into him mumbled an apology and walked away. So much for the good feelings this is supposed to inspire…  
  
"Let me help," Aki said, going over to the man and helping him pick up his dishes. The man gave her a grateful look, which froze when he saw who she was. Aki took the moment to study him.  
  
He was about her age, she decided, though his infirmities made him seem older. He must have been this way because of an accident rather than birth, for she could see horrible scars on his hands and neck. His face, however, was a contrast to the rest of him; he was quite attractive, with a fine face framed by dark auburn hair. His eyes, behind a small pair of glasses, were a clear sky blue.  
  
"Hello," Aki said, deciding the awkward silence had gone on long enough. She hoped he wasn't one of those who was awed by her. "I'm Dr. Aki Ross."  
  
She received no response, except for a slight widening of his eyes. He backed away a step. Was he really that shy?  
  
Her gaze went to his dark Zeus Station jacket; the name 'Erik' was stenciled on his chest. "So, you were aboard the Zeus before it fired, Erik?" she asked, hoping the use of his name would soothe him. Instead, he took another step back, muscles tense as if ready to spring.  
  
Aki began to wonder if perhaps his injuries had been mental as well as physical. Perhaps he'd taken a damaging blow to his head, and had later been taken aboard the Zeus by a relative to be taken care of.  
  
Pity… "Well," she said, placing a friendly hand on his arm, "I'm glad you are brave enough to help restore the city with us. We need all the help we can get."  
  
Erik's reaction to her touch surprised her. He jerked away, as if struck. His eyes had gone wide, and his face was panicked. He nearly dropped his tray again in an effort to get away.  
  
What was that all about?  
  
* * *  
  
Erik's heart was racing, and his legs quaked under him. He slumped against the wall as he struggled to compose himself. He placed a hand over the spot on his bare flesh where Aki had touched him.  
  
It had hurt. The brush of her fingers had been like an electric current, passing through his whole body, tugging at his soul.  
  
His eyes found Aki, and he watched her as she spoke to several other people and shook hands. None of them flinched away from her touch. What had he felt?  
  
Or… had it been his imagination? His mission had him so tense that coming into contact with the woman he'd vowed to kill may have made him physically ill. After all, he'd never killed before… And why did he have to kill someone now? So what if he'd made a promise? Should a promise like this even be kept? And why Dr. Aki Ross, of all people? She seemed harmless…  
  
Erik removed his hand from his arm, then stared in shock. The flesh, where it had come into contact with hers, was bubbling up, flushed an angry red where it wasn't blistering. The pain hadn't been imaginary.  
  
There could be no doubt. You were right, Erik thought to the one he'd promised, the one who would never hear. She has to die. Oh, God…  
  
But why had be been the only one affected? Was it because they were both Phantom touched?  
  
Or did she known what he had planned?  
  
* * *  
  
The USMF went through the city, combing the debris for bodies before letting in the work crews to clear and area. Aki watched distractedly as the volunteers were put to work cleaning up the streets. It would be a long time before New York lived again, but she knew the sight of the willing workers, filmed by reporters whenever they weren't pitching in their own services, was inspiring to a people who had lived so long without hope.  
  
Aki helped where she could, but being in a place where so much death and destruction had occurred left her feeling… strange. Empty, almost. There were no tears, even though she was one of the few people here who had survived New York's fall, and there was no joy in seeing so many people work together. There was… nothing.  
  
She wandered away from the USMF crew she'd been checking in with, pausing once to shake hands with an enthusiastic female soldier. I must still be numb with shock, she realized. Why wouldn't I be? After what I've lived through… What Gray should have lived through…  
  
She felt a sharp pang at the thought of Gray. So I'm not totally emotionless after all…  
  
And yet, she wasn't as sad as she thought she should have been. Perhaps she was just too busy to think about his loss. Perhaps…  
  
A low murmuring interrupted her reverie. She turned and saw Dr. Sid talking to a Council member and two soldiers. Their expressions were a mixture of concern and puzzlement. And a little fear…  
  
"What's wrong?" Aki asked, searching her mentor's concerned face. Why did he look so upset?  
  
"There's been a death," the Council member, a man by the name of Dickson, told her somberly.  
  
"What happened?" Aki kept her voice low, not wanting to attract attention.  
  
The two soldiers exchanged glances. "We don't know," the female soldier replied. "Private Garcia was working on the cleanup crew, and she walked off for a moment. When we found her, she was dead."  
  
"She looked," the male soldier said softly, "as if she were killed by a Phantom."  
  
To Be Continued… 


	3. When the Deed is Done

Disclaimer: Nearly forgot this… I do not own any of the characters or concepts from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.  
  
METAMORPHOSIS  
  
Chapter Two  
  
When the Deed is Done  
  
Erik was working with a cleaning crew when all the volunteers were recalled. He joined the rest of the crew, all of them talking in low, puzzled murmurs, as they were ushered back to the main gathering center by a group of soldiers.  
  
Armed soldiers. Something had happened while he was out performing the menial tasks that were all his body supposedly could handle. Was he too late? Had it already begun, whatever "it" was?  
  
Back in the community center they'd left barely two hours before, Erik wove his way through the crowd, alert for any information. All he'd heard so far were preposterous rumors, and he was disgustedly making his way to the edge of the crowd when Councilman Dickson stepped onto the speaking platform. The crowd immediately quieted.  
  
"I apologize for pulling you all away from your efforts, but there has been an accident."  
  
The crowd began to murmur speculatively, and Erik inched his way towards the soldiers flanking the Council member. Accident, hell. An accident doesn't scare soldiers into arming themselves.  
  
"One of our volunteers was killed by falling debris. Our soldiers are now re-evaluating the stability of the sites before you are all sent out again. We want New York to claim no more victims," Dickson said sadly.  
  
Erik was as close as he could get now, keeping his body in the shadows. He'd discovered most people never even noticed him, as if their eyes didn't want to see his crippled form. It was sad, but he'd learned to use that to his advantage.  
  
As a result, he was right there when a Deep Eyes soldier came up to Dickson.  
  
"Sir," the man said softly, "we have completed our sweep of the city. There's nothing."  
  
Dickson cast a glance at the crowd, most of which had broken off into groups now that Dickson's speech was over and were paying no attention to the Councilman.  
  
"You're certain?" Dickson said, his face relieved.  
  
"If there was a Phantom in the vicinity, we would have found it. Dr. Sid had agreed to examine the body, but she couldn't have been killed by a Phantom."  
  
Dickson moved out of earshot, and Erik didn't follow. A Phantom? Was it possible? The soldiers hadn't found anything, but Erik didn't think they knew how to look. Not anymore, now that the rules had changed.  
  
Erik's fingers ran along the blade hidden inside his jacket. He was going to have to end this sooner than he would have liked. He had to get Aki alone, tonight.  
  
* * *  
  
"I'm baffled," Dr. Sid told Aki grimly. He stood over the prone form of Private Garcia, his hands drawing a sheet up over the young woman's body. "She does indeed almost look as if she were killed by a Phantom."  
  
Aki's eyes were on Dr. Sid. "Almost?"  
  
"There's no sign of any health problem that could have killed her, from what I can see. And her body shows nothing externally to indicate an accident or… murder." Dr. Sid shook his head. "It does look like the work of a Phantom. Except for this." He pulled her right hand out from under the sheet.  
  
It looked as if it had been burned. The flesh was red and swollen, pus leaking from cracks in the skin. Across the palm, the skin was blackened, and flaked off with the movement.  
  
Aki wrinkled her nose. "A fire?" she wondered. "Maybe smoke inhalation was responsible."  
  
"There shouldn't have been a fire nearby," Dr. Sid mused. "I'm having the body sent to Chicago so a full autopsy can be done. Until then, I just don't know how she died." He shrugged helplessly.  
  
Aki ran a hand through her dark hair nervously. This was wrong. There shouldn't be any more deaths – not now that the world finally had a chance to recover! She bit her lip. This couldn't be happening. It was an accident. It had to be!  
  
"She was so young; only twenty-two," Dr. Sid said to himself, lifting the sheet over the face. "With the war over, no one has the right to die this young."  
  
Dr. Sid's movements had caught Aki's eye, and now she was frowning in puzzlement at the shrouded form. Where had she seen the young woman before?  
  
* * *  
  
It was still night, and she sensed the giant moon had reached its peak. Aki stood on the blasted plain, her eyes shut and the wind playing with her short hair. The night around her was filled with the screeches of Phantoms, and she could sense their presence as they gathered around her.  
  
She opened her eyes, smiling gently at row after row of luminescent Phantoms, their alien features all fastened on her. Movement rippled through them like a wave as they shifted restlessly. Aki took a step forward and they stilled, all eyes on her.  
  
She suddenly found herself laughing in wonder at their quiesance. These Phantoms meant no harm to her! In fact, something about them seemed almost… worshipful.  
  
* * *  
  
Aki was asleep at one of the tables, her head nestled in her arms. Respectfully, the volunteers stayed away from their savior, those who ventured close keeping their voices down to whispers.  
  
Erik watched her, while trying to seem to watch the television. The news was currently showing footage of their efforts, describing Aki in glowing terms and making her volunteers sound like heroes. There was no mention of the death, he noted.  
  
His fingers plucked at the bandage he'd wrapped around his arm. Fortunately, the sleeve of his heavy jacket hid the bandage. Not that anybody would care about his injury, anyway. What was one more wound to a body so battered?  
  
Aki's body twitched, and Erik turned his attention to her. She seemed to be dreaming, he realized. He wondered what she dreamt about. Her losses? The future? Or something small and inconsequential?  
  
Or were her dreams no longer the dreams of a human? Erik shivered as Aki lifted her head, a strange smile playing about her lips. Her gaze seemed to fasten on him, and Erik thought he could see a glow, like embers, in the depths of her eyes. Then she turned away, and Erik wondered if he'd been imagining things.  
  
Then again, he certainly hadn't imagined the burn on his arm.  
  
* * *  
  
"Is something wrong, Aki?" Dr. Sid's voice was concerned.  
  
Aki's eyelids fluttered, and she struggled to focus on the doctor's kindly face. She'd been sleeping at the table, she realized, and had had another Phantom dream.  
  
Should she tell Dr. Sid about them? What if they indicated a new threat? But they seemed harmless enough. They didn't leave her with the same feeling of impending doom when she awoke. It was only natural that she was dreaming about Phantoms, she supposed. After all, she had lived with their threat for her entire life. This feeling of security was more alien to her than the Phantoms themselves!  
  
She suddenly remembered Dr. Sid's question. "Actually," she admitted, pressing a hand to her forehead, "all of this is giving me a headache. And, to be honest, I'm really uncomfortable around all of these people. Maybe I should go lie down."  
  
"I'll cover for you," Dr. Sid said in understanding. "Before you go, though, are you hungry?"  
  
Aki considered this as she climbed to her feet. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't eaten all day. But she didn't feel hungry. "No thanks," she said, heading to her room. "I'll be all right."  
  
* * *  
  
Erik watched Aki leave. Could this be the opportunity he'd been waiting for? The dinner buffet was being laid out, and everyone was flocking to the tables. If Aki was going to be alone, then this could be the right time. It would be much easier to do it now than to creep down the hall at night. And any sound she made would be less likely to be heard…  
  
He waited a few minutes, in case she had only left to use the bathroom, then got up from his chair and followed. Once out of sight of the crowd, he broke from his shuffling walk to a fast lope that would have surprised most people. He wasn't as unhealthy as he looked, really. It was only because he was used to zero G conditions that he moved so slowly, not because of his injuries, as everyone assumed. Of course, he was going to hurt later. But by then, it probably wouldn't matter.  
  
He didn't pass anyone in the halls, and made it all the way to the elevator. Aki had a room on the fourth floor, he knew. And by eavesdropping, he'd been able to learn which one. Hopefully, he'd be able to do this quickly, before he lost his nerve.  
  
Again, the halls were empty, and he made it to Aki's room. His heart was pounding as his hand found the panel to open the door. Would her door be locked? He could pick it if he had to, though his fingers were trembling so much…  
  
The panel depressed, and the door slid open. Silently, Erik entered the darkened room.  
  
Aki was standing by her mirror, a dreamy expression on her face. She turned as she caught sight of Erik's reflection. "Oh!" she said, surprised. "I thought I locked… What do you want, Erik?"  
  
Erik winced. The fact that she remembered him and used his name with such familiarity made his task harder. Better to be the anonymous killer…  
  
His hand pulled the knife free from its hidden sheath, and he took a step closer, keeping the knife hidden. He didn't know what he'd do if she fought him.  
  
He lifted his other hand to her, and she backed away in surprise. "Is there something I can help you with?" His silent manner was clearly unnerving her. "Did I hurt you earlier?" she said suddenly.  
  
Erik paused, his eyes shifting towards his bandaged hand. Did she realize what she had done? Or was she just thinking of how he had flinched from her touch? She'd been acting as if she didn't know anything was wrong with her.  
  
Aki's eyes followed his gaze. "You are hurt," she realized. "I'm sorry; I didn't know. I wouldn't have touched you if-"  
  
Her interest in his wound was all the opening he needed. With her eyes on his free arm, his other could bring the knife up unnoticed. Aki turned to see the knife, but not in time to stop it from plunging into her chest.  
  
Aki's eyes widened in horror, and her lips opened in an attempt to scream, but all that came out was a strangled gasp. She could only stare as blood flowed from around the knife imbedded in her heart. She dropped to her knees, then fell forward, hitting the floor with an echoing thud.  
  
* * *  
  
Somewhere in the distance, a shrill keening cry, like a Phantom's, tore through the air as something buried in the earth stirred…  
  
To Be Continued… 


	4. Descending into Darkness

Disclaimer:  The characters don't belong to me, except for Erik.

Author's Note:  It has recently come to my attention that when I upload a document, the italics don't come through.  Eep.  That scene in the first chapter, where someone is telling Erik to kill himself, is a flashback!  It isn't a voice in his head.  It was supposed to be italicized…  now I .html my stories, so the italics should be intact.

By the way, I now try to inform readers of my upcoming projects via my bio, so you may want to check it out on occasion to see what I'm up to.

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Three

Descending into Darkness

Erik stared in horror as Aki's body fell to the floor, blood pooling around her.  He hadn't imagined it to be like this…  hadn't thought she'd meet his eyes with her terrified gaze.  He certainly hadn't expected her blood to look so… human.  He'd almost expected a thick black ichor, or green slime, or… something.

He took a step backwards, away from Aki's twitching fingers.  He tripped on the edge of the carpet and fell, and suddenly found his gaze level with Aki's wide, accusing eyes.  One hand, drenched in blood, grabbed for his ankle, leaving smears along his calf.  He scrambled away as quickly as he could.

"Aki?  Is everything all right?  You left your door open-"  Dr. Sid's voice came behind him.  A strangled gasp cut off the rest of his sentence.  Erik met Dr. Sid's eyes with a frightened gaze of his own.

Dr. Sid didn't just stand there staring, as Erik couldn't seem to stop doing.  He quickly went to the phone and called security before turning to Erik.

"Did you see who did this?" he demanded, going to Aki and putting pressure over the wound, careful not to dislodge the blade.  When Erik didn't respond, Dr. Sid directed his gaze to the young man.  "You didn't do this, did you?"

Erik swallowed.  He found he couldn't lie with that stern gaze upon him.  So he nodded, and dropped his gaze to Aki.  _She's still breathing…  Would she survive his attempt on her life?  She couldn't; he'd pierced her heart!_

"Why?" Dr. Sid asked, a sob choking the words.  He seemed completely unafraid of Erik, despite what he knew the man had done.

Erik just shook his head sadly, and his hair fell forward to hide his face.  Dr. Sid would never understand…

Hands grabbed him roughly from behind and dragged him to his feet.  He struggled to maintain his balance, but fell against one of the two security guards serving as cops.  The man grabbed his arm, freeing his bandage and sending a sharp pain through his arm.

"You did this to Dr. Ross?" the other man demanded angrily, yanking Erik out of the way as two people with a stretcher arrived on scene.

"You won't get any answers out of him," the first man said disgustedly.  "Look."  Their rough handling had dislodged the red bandanna he wore, revealing a series of scars along his neck and throat.  "With injuries like that, he's gotta be mute."

The two, heedless of Erik's battered body, dragged him out of there.  He cast one last glance towards Aki, mostly hidden by medics, and thought, _Just die…  Don't let this be for nothing!_

*    *    *

Dr. Sid followed the medics as they took Aki to the temporary hospital that had been set up for the volunteers.  He hoped the facilities would be enough to save Aki; no one had anticipated an emergency like this.

Despite that, they had some excellent doctors available among the volunteers.  Two immediately went to work on Aki, and Dr. Sid was told to wait.  Too old and weary to pace, he sat in one of the mismatched chairs.  

_If I lose Aki, I don't know what I'd do!  She was like family, the only family he had.  They'd been through a lot, and he thought of her as the daughter he'd never had._

Why would someone want to kill her?  Aki had done so much for the world, and had lost almost everyone she'd cared for.  What was there about her that could drive someone to such lengths?

The man who'd done it had seemed so young… Aki's age, maybe.  He'd been shy and timid, but had worked hard despite his handicaps.  Dr. Sid remembered seeing the young man pitch in, acting every bit as helpful as most of the other volunteers.

All so he could get close to Aki.

Something bothered Dr. Sid about Erik.  It wasn't the frightened look the youth had given him when he'd realized what he'd done, or the helpless expression on his face as the two guards took him away.

It was the wound on his arm.  When the bandage had fallen away, Dr. Sid had glimpsed burned flesh, angry red with oozing boils, like a burn.  Like the wound on Private Garcia's palm.  Were they connected?  Had Erik killed the private?

Or… had they both had a run in with the same thing, something that burned with a touch?  But why was Erik alive while the private had died?

Why had he lived to attack Aki?

Dr. Sid buried his face in his hands.  None of that mattered now, anyway.  All he wanted was for Aki to live.

*    *    *

Around her, the Phantoms were in chaos.  They screamed in rage as Aki knelt before them, doubled over with pain.  Tentacles thrashed with whip-like snaps, and clawed feet stamped an erratic beat on the ground, creating a dizzying wall of motion and discordant noise that Aki's pain-dulled senses couldn't take in.

She moaned, the sound barely escaping her clenched teeth.  The Phantoms stilled their arrhythmic cadence at this proof that Aki was indeed alive.

In front of her, the ground glowed a luminous red-orange, and a translucent humanoid Phantom rose out of the turf before her.  Aki held one bloody hand towards it, and it wrapped its tentacles gently around her arm.

She shut her eyes as the sensation the touch caused washed through her, dampening the pain.  She opened her eyes again, smiling at the being that had been part of her, inside of her, for so long, the one whose embrace had warmed her when she thought her life was over.

Once again, it was offering itself to her, and once again, she spread her arms wide, allowing her spirit to join with the Phantom's.

She almost wept with joy as it filled those cold depths inside her with warmth.  She felt whole again, since the first time it had left her, after it had been altered by the spirit wave.

But now it would be with her forever.  Around her, the Phantom's ululations became triumphant as Aki overcame the pain and beat back death.

*    *    *

Aki gradually awoke with the feeling something momentous had occurred, but her foggy mind couldn't remember what.   The dingy walls of her room, barely sanitary by hospital standards, slowly swam into focus.  As her senses sharpened, she became aware of a pain in her chest.  She tried to look down, but her body was too weak to manage such a small movement.  She gave a soft, fluttering sigh, and tried to recall what happened.

She was in New York with the reconstruction effort, she knew.  They had honored Gray and the rest of his squad, then went to work.  Then there'd been a death, and… and…

And she'd been stabbed.  Dimly, she could recall the feel of the knife sliding into her chest.  There'd been so much pain…  She couldn't remember…

"You're awake?" Dr. Sid's voice, thick with emotion, came to her, and she tried to turn her head to see him.  "You made it!"

"Wh…" she said thickly, not certain what she meant to ask but wanting answers.

"You were attacked," Dr. Sid said grimly.  "But we caught the culprit.  The knife went to your heart, but by some miracle, it missed."  Dr. Sid frowned.  "As deep as the knife was, I feared otherwise.  Luckily, we have a couple of surgeons among the volunteers, and they managed to save you without having to move you to a big hospital and risk further injury, though we did have some equipment brought here."  Dr. Sid smiled warmly at her.  "You've been asleep for two days.  We were all worried about you.  But now that you're awake…" He tenderly took her hand in his.  "You're going to live, Aki."

Aki gave him the barest hint of a smile.  "I'm glad," she whispered hoarsely.  "Why?" she asked, hoping Dr. Sid would understand.

"No one knows.  Erik – the man who did it – seems to be a mute.  And he won't respond to much, so they're afraid the may not have many wits."  Dr. Sid looked as if he didn't quite believe this.

Aki didn't, either.  Erik may never have said a word to her, but his blue eyes had been bright and intelligent.  And she suddenly recalled the fierce determination she'd seen behind those glasses moments before – 

She shut her eyes, refusing to remember.  Soon, she sank into a peaceful slumber, and Dr. Sid left her alone.

*    *    *

There wasn't a prison in the cleared area of the city, so Erik was being kept in a windowless room in an office building, with a guard at the door.  A padlock had been set up on the door, and a mattress thrown in the room was the only furniture.

Dr. Sid had hurried along New York's wet, deserted streets – Aki's attack had again halted the volunteers – to the building, because he needed to see that wound on Erik's arm.

No one knew what to do with the man who had tried to murder the world's savior, so he was being left where he was for now.  It was probably safer for him as well; the entire world was out for his blood according to the news.  Everyone wanted to be the one who put him on trial for his heinous crime.  Yes, it probably was best to leave him in New York for now.

The guard had let him in with great reluctance, even though Erik had been searched for weapons.  _But at least they're leaving me alone.  The guard may be within shouting distance, but I can investigate in peace._

Erik looked harmless.  He was in a fetal position on the mattress, eyes staring blankly ahead.  He wore the outfit he'd been captured in, the environment suit and the quilted Zeus Station jacket.  His glasses sat slightly askew on his nose, as if they'd been bent when he'd been taken in.

"I won't waste my time with formalities," Dr. Sid said harshly, wondering if Erik understood.  He gave no indication he'd heard.  "I'm only here to see that injury on your arm."

For a moment, Erik didn't react.  Then, he slowly lifted his unbandaged arm towards Dr. Sid.

He took it gently – attempted murderer or no, he couldn't bring himself to further hurt the young man – and examined the wound.

Clearly, no one had bothered to take care of it since his capture, for it was a crusted and dried mess.  But Dr. Sid could see it was very similar to Private Garcia's wound except…

This wound looked like a handprint.  Dr. Sid could make out the top part of a palm print, and the stripes of the fingers.  It was a human handprint.  "What did this?"  Dr. Sid demanded.

Erik only shrugged.

Dr. Sid scowled, then left the cell before he became tempted to hurt the man who had tried to kill Aki.

He was quickly distracted by this new enigma, however.  What had burned Erik?  Was it connected to his subsequent attack on Aki?

*    *    *

It rained again that night.  The USMF soldiers patrolling the city were irritable.  They knew the necessity of watching for looters, or looking for whatever had killed Garcia – though the general consensus was that it was the man who'd attacked Aki – but that didn't make the patrol any more palatable.

Sergeant Matheson pulled his slicker tighter with a curse.  If had been so long since it had truly rained that they'd forgotten how to make proper rain gear!

A sound caught his attention through the pounding rain:  A clatter of metal, in the ally behind him.  Probably debris knocked over by the rain, he thought.

Then he saw a flicker of movement.  Sighing, he went to investigate.  _Better not be one of those damned volunteers…_

The dim silhouette in the alley was standing off to the side, where he couldn't see it properly.  He could only tell that it was human.  "Hey!  You're not supposed to be here!"  Matheson said, drawing his gun.

The figure didn't move towards him, but it didn't have to.  A long tentacle uncoiled from its side and whipped towards him.  Matheson barely had the chance to flinch before it wrapped around him and drew him close.

Matheson just glimpsed the human features before a hand descended on his face.  He screamed, but was cut off as his spirit was torn from his body, which crumbled into a dried-out husk on the wet pavement.

To Be Continued…


	5. Whispers in the Dark

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for Erik.  Thank Square for the rest.

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Four

Whispers in the Dark

She lived.  This Erik knew from the gloating taunts his guards hurled at him, taunts pitched at a tone that suggested they didn't think he understood.  After jumping to the conclusion that he must be some sort of retard who was merely imitating something he'd seen, or doing something someone had jokingly suggested he do, several of the guards treated him as such.  The few that guessed at his intelligence kept quiet.

But his treatment wasn't an issue.  He'd encountered it all before, even aboard the Zeus where he'd been acknowledged as a scientist.  What bothered him was that it was all for nothing.  He'd made his move, and Aki Ross had survived.  She was weak and bedridden, but alive.  All his work was for nothing.  _Idiot, he told himself.  __I could have finished the job if I hadn't been afraid of her!  He hadn't realized he'd be as mentally weak as he was physically.  __Now I could have doomed us all…_

His door swung open, and a guard beckoned to him.  "Bathroom break," the man said shortly.  Erik hid his glower and followed the guard meekly.  His tiny cell didn't even have a bathroom… Erik almost wished they'd move him to a penitentiary just for the improved facilities…

On the way back to his cell, the guard halted him with a rough twist of the arm.  Erik obeyed, casting his gaze on the floor as two more guards joined the first.

"They found another one last night," one of the newcomers said.  "Sucked dry, like the first."

So they knew about the murder?  He'd thought Councilman Dickson was keeping it from any civilians.

"Was his body in the same condition as the sergeant's?"

_What?  Erik tried not to appear interested.  He hadn't heard anything about a sergeant._

"Exact same.  The body was just as dried out, and unrecognizable as the other."  The newcomer's voice was grim.  "They're going to post soldiers to watch him."  The man nodded towards Erik.  "This can't be a coincidence."

Erik's guard scowled.  "He hasn't left the building-"

"It's just a precaution.  He probably has an accomplice somewhere, and the USMF don't want a rescue attempt."

"Thanks for the warning.  I'll just get him back to his cell."  Erik's guard tugged his arm, and Erik was forced to follow.

_Two murders… both sucked dry…  Erik thought about the sensation he'd felt when Aki touched him.  __So much like a Phantom's caress… But these murders sounded more… advanced, somehow.  And Aki had been in the hospital these past few days._

Erik's blood ran cold.  _There's another one out there…_

*    *    *

The Phantom cloaked Aki's body in a corona of light.  It had become one with her again, as it had been struggling to do since the spirit wave had accidentally displaced it.  Aki reveled in the feeling of wholeness the Phantom, her other half, gave her.  The loss of it had hurt her far worse than the loss of Gray.

Now she walked among the gathered Phantoms, neither human nor alien but something new; different.  She held one hand out to a giant snake Phantom, caressing its muzzle.  Then she turned to the humanoid next to it, her fingers brushing its own.

A low, throaty hum began as the assembled Phantoms paid their respects to her.  Aki shut her eyes as multi-jointed fingers, antennae, and tentacles all reached for her.

Aki smiled at them.  "Soon," she whispered, and the Phantoms' crooning intensified.

Then a cry went up, and Aki whirled to face the ranks of Phantoms who were parting behind her.

Another figure walked forward, its body encased in a luminescent glow like her own.

*    *    *

The atmosphere was solemn as Dr. Sid moved away from Councilman Dickson and into the exhausted crowd.  Restoration of the city had resumed once it was announced Aki would live, and for a few days the volunteers' mood had been one of celebration.  Then the USMF soldiers tightened security, and whispered rumors began that all was not right in the world after all.

If they had seen the bodies, Dr. Sid knew all hell would break loose.  Having examined them, he'd determined that whatever had done it had been what had attacked Private Garcia and Erik, though using more extreme methods.  But… what was it?  It was no use speaking to Erik; the guards still couldn't get him to respond to anything but the most basic commands.

And Dr. Sid couldn't shake the feeling it was connected to Aki somehow.  She'd been acting strangely since she'd woken…  No, before that, he realized, barely eating or sleeping, speaking only when she had to… He'd thought they were just side effects of being in mourning, but some of the looks she'd given him…  Could she be sensing the killer somehow?  Perhaps it was a Phantom, and she was dreaming of it again.  But why hadn't she told him?

Dr. Sid pushed his way through the crowd, intent on getting to the temporary hospital.  He needed to see Aki, to ask her if she was indeed dreaming.  He neatly sidestepped the reporters who had been hounding him the past several nights and made it outside, where it had begun to drizzle.

Mentally cursing the scientists who had helpfully tried to save the world by incurring a flood not seen since Noah's day, Dr. Sid sloshed through the darkening streets.  He was immediately flanked by two soldiers holding their weapons ready.

"You shouldn't be out, Doctor," one of them murmured.

"I need to see Aki," he said quietly.

They followed him to the small, well-guarded medical center.  Dr. Sid was disturbed by how many soldiers he saw posted throughout the building.  He hoped they weren't bothering Aki.

With a nod at the guard by her door, Dr. Sid entered Aki's darkened room.  He fumbled through the dark, wondering why the nurse hadn't left a light on.  Perhaps Aki was asleep…

When his eyes adjusted, he found himself by Aki's bed.  It was empty.

"Aki?" Dr. Sid gasped.

"He's coming," a voice murmured dreamily.  "I can sense him."

Dr. Sid started.  The voice had come from the shadows by the room's only window.

"Aki?" Dr. Sid repeated.

There was a ripple of movement, and Aki's silhouette moved across the window.  "Sid!" she said with some surprise.  "I didn't expect to see you tonight!"

"What are you doing out of bed?"  He could make out her nightgown, hanging open to reveal the bandage wrapped around her chest.  It must have been freshly changed, because there was no blood.

"I'm tired of lying around," she said, sounding more like herself.  Her voice was stronger, he noticed.  _She's recovering fast!  "I just… needed some fresh air."_

"Get in bed," Dr. Sid ordered.  Aki sighed and moved painfully towards him.

"I hear and obey," she joked quietly, obediently settling herself on her sheets.  "I'm sorry.  You know how I hate being cooped up.  And I feel better!"

"Of course," Dr. Sid said.

The knife had been buried deep in her chest… 

"You're very lucky," he continued.

The blood had flowed rapidly…  The knife had been imbedded in her heart… 

"The wound could have been worse," Dr. Sid finished.

_She should have died, but here she is, three days later, acting as if nothing happened._

Dr. Sid pulled his protégé into a careful embrace, noticing how her response was stiff and jerky.  "I'm glad you're getting better.  But don't push yourself.  I don't know what I'd do without you."  He gave her a crooked grin.  "I'd have to handle the military, reporters, and politicians by myself, and I don't think I'm up to it."

Aki chuckled.  "I'll get well as fast as I can," she promised.

He released her, letting her settle into her bed.  "By the way, who's 'he'?"

"'He' who?" Aki asked.  Her shadowed face was unreadable.

"You said, when I came in, 'He's coming.'"

"Oh."  For a second, her eyes seemed shrouded in darkness.  "It was just… a dream," she said.

"A good one?"

"I don't know…  I think so, yes," Aki smiled, and her eyes seemed to flicker with a burning radiance.  Dr. Sid felt suddenly chilled.  "The most wonderful dream of all."

Dr. Sid suddenly found he didn't want to be there.  All thoughts of asking Aki about her dreams flew out of his mind.  "I'll leave you to them," he said quietly.  He turned and left, taking one last look at her face as he did so.

She looked like a normal, weary young woman.  What had frightened him so?  What had frightened another enough that he'd try to kill her?

Dr. Sid resolved to speak to Erik in the morning.  He'd get answers from the mute one way or another.

*    *    *

Aki almost got back out of bed as soon as Dr. Sid left.  But she found she could hear the voices just as well from where she was.  He was out there, another like her… She could feel his presence, whispering at the edge of her consciousness, begging her to join him…

She smiled as she realized she wouldn't be alone, that she wasn't alone even now.  The Phantom spirit was a part of her.  She hadn't consciously realized it before; hadn't wanted to accept something so horrible, so… wonderful.  Even when Private Garcia's innocent handshake had triggered Aki's growing abilities and sated her hunger, she hadn't accepted the truth.

But the other's voice had whispered to her, telling her what she was, how extraordinary she was.  And her Phantom half agreed, urging her to embrace her nature instead of shying away from it and pretending it didn't exist.

"Dr. Ross?"  The woman's voice cruelly tore her from her thoughts.  She glowered at the concerned nurse who was hovering over her in the dark.  "I just came to check on you before I left.  The guard out there is asleep, and I was concerned…"  The woman gave a shake of her head.  "We're all worried about you.  I'd hate to leave you unguarded.  I'll wake the guard and reprimand him when I leave."

Aki considered this.  No one knew the woman was in here, then.  "I'm all right," she said, bunching her muscles.  "In fact, I feel a lot better."  She sprang to her feet, shocking the woman.  "I'm just… hungry."

The woman shrank away from Aki's piercing gaze.  "I'll get you something," she whispered.

"No need," Aki purred.  A tentacle flowed out of her arm, twining around the woman's abdomen and squeezing.  The woman gasped as ribs cracked and splintered, and lungs collapsed.  "I have all I need right here."  The woman's body began to glow, a pulsing blue that slowly flowed away from her body and towards Aki.  The woman's body collapsed in upon itself, and Aki regarded the empty husk dispassionately.  "Thank you," she murmured.

With that, she crossed her room and threw the body out the window.

To Be Continued…


	6. Revelations of the Spirit

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters portrayed within, with the possibility of Erik.

Author's Note:  Not much happens in this chapter.  I apologize.  It's mostly talking, really a bit of an information dump.  I don't like the title, either…  Guess I'm not fond of this chapter, period.  Next chapter is when the real action starts.

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Five

Revelations of the Spirit

Dr. Sid had a hard time getting to Erik's cell the next morning.  The USMF soldiers who were reinforcing the guards were highly paranoid, not a very good state for armed soldiers to be in.  He had a difficult time making them realize he was who he said he was, and had been unable to explain why he wanted to speak to a witless mute.  But in the end, they let him in without supervision.  The doctor wondered absently if they were hoping he'd finish off the youth and end it all.

Erik was pacing his cell, a surprisingly steady gait considering his handicaps.  He looked shocked for a moment, then carefully drew his face into a blank look before seating himself on his mattress.

 Definitely a keen mind there…

"Hello, Erik," he said, wishing he'd asked for a chair.  In the end, he carefully lowered himself to the mattress on the furthest edge from Erik.  He watched the youth carefully, knowing he may get the answers he needed from body language.

"I'd like to speak to you; maybe you can help me."

Erik removed his crooked glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"I want to know why you tried to kill Aki," Dr. Sid continued.  He pulled a pen and a worn piece of paper from his pocket and offered it to Erik.  The youth's brows arched in surprise, but he didn't accept the offered paper.

_Maybe he can't write?  "These killings…  they're connected to why you attacked Aki, aren't they?"_

Erik toyed with his glasses, blue eyes fastened on their bent frames.  _At lease he seems to have lost that blank look… and he is listening to me.  Maybe I just have to say the right thing to get him to be more responsive.  But what?_

"It can't be a coincidence," Dr. Sid said.  "And I think you know something about it.  Why won't you let anyone know what's going on?"

He had Erik's full attention now.  The youth's eyes – _God, they look familiar! – were on him, and his face was displaying interest.  Perhaps he'd only played dumb because he'd thought Dr. Sid had come to avenge his crime._

"Those attacks are getting more frequent… and are becoming worse.  Another body was found right outside the hospital.  Whatever it is, it's getting bolder.  If you know anything that can stop them…"

Erik seemed suddenly ashamed.  His face fell, and he closed his eyes.  His hair slanted forward, covering his features.

Dr. Sid watched with dawning realization.  Erik had thought killing Aki would solve everything!  But why?  "What is it?" he asked, a little despairingly.  This was going nowhere.  If killing Aki was the only option, then there was no way he could carry it out, or permit anyone else to do so.  "It's almost like a Phantom is behind this.  But the Phantoms are gone!"

He lurched to his feet, intending to leave.  _This is useless… I shouldn't have expected anything from an attempted murderer._

"The Phantoms aren't gone."  Dr. Sid barely heard the soft voice, and he turned slowly back to Erik, wondering if he'd imagined it.  

"Excuse me?"

"The Phantoms aren't gone."  Erik uncurled his body, standing slowly to face Dr. Sid.  A grim look clouded the youth's face.  "But they aren't what they were before."

There was a dry rasp to his voice, either from disuse or due to the injury to his vocal cords.  But his words were clear.

"You can speak?" Dr. Sid cursed himself for stating the obvious.

"When I want to."

"Why did you do it?  Why did you try to kill Aki?"  Dr. Sid demanded harshly.

"I had to.  Before…"  Erik faltered under Dr. Sid's cool gaze, then suddenly braced himself and matched it.  Only his fingers, anxiously twisting around the glasses still clutched in his hand, betrayed his emotions.  "I failed.  I made a promise, and I failed.  I may have doomed us all."

"A promise to who?  What do you know, Erik?"  Dr. Sid tried to soften his voice, hoping to coax the truth from the youth.

Erik sucked in a breath.  "Dr. Ross is different.  Changed."  He walked over to a glass of water he'd set aside, probably from lunch.  "She's not human anymore."

Dr. Sid's stomach lurched.  _No…  It can't be true!  But… he's right about one thing… There is something different about her… "Why should I believe you?  Who are you, anyway?"  There was something disturbingly familiar about the intense gaze Erik suddenly fastened on him._

"I can't tell you," Erik muttered.

"Then why should I trust you?"

Erik turned his face from Dr. Sid.  "You wouldn't trust me if you did know," he said sadly.

"Try me," Dr. Sid said.  What was Erik hiding?  "Or I shall leave right now, without giving you a chance to explain yourself."  Erik stayed silent.  "I promise you, I'll listen with an open mind.  No one else will give you that."  Erik sank to his mattress.  "Now, who are you, and what did you find out?"

Erik closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.  "My name," he said, voice faltering, "is Erik Nathaniel Hein."  Dr. Sid could only stare wordlessly at the youth before him as Erik met his eyes.  "General Hein was my brother."

*    *    *

Saying it felt almost like an admission of guilt.  Dr. Sid looked disgusted and horrified by this revelation, and Erik was almost sorry he'd said anything.  _But why should I feel guilty?  It's who I am!  If he won't listen because of that…_

_If he won't listen… then there's no hope for any of us._

"Genera Hein's brother," Dr. Sid said slowly.  "That explains a lot.  You promised him you'd kill Aki if he failed, didn't you?"

"This isn't petty revenge," Erik said coolly.  "Even if she was partly responsible for his death, I wouldn't resort to murder."

"Your brother would," Dr. Sid countered.

Exasperated, Erik snarled, "I warned you.  You promised you'd listen with an open mind, remember?  Now you're damning me because of my brother.  If you would just listen…"

Dr. Sid sighed.  "Even if you didn't intend it, you could still be carrying out your brother's last request.  Hein was a skilled manipulator; I wouldn't put it past him to trick you into killing an innocent woman."

Erik swallowed.  This was going to be difficult.  "I suppose he arranged these murders as proof?" he challenged.  "Anyway, Douglas wouldn't do that to me.  I trusted him, Doctor, even if no one else did."  Dr. Sid gave a derisive snort.  "Perhaps I should tell you why, before I get into how I came to be here?"  Erik took a sip of water as Dr. Sid seemed to internally debate this.  Then the older man sat next to Erik.

"I did promise you," he sighed.

"It's a long story," Erik warned.  "I hope the military won't come in and check up on you.  I could be brutally sucking the life out of you, after all."

"They won't," Dr. Sid said dryly.

With that, Erik began his tale.

"It would be more accurate to say that I'm General Hein's illegitimate half brother. Our father wasn't very loyal, and he decided to amuse himself with one of the female scientists at a base where he'd been posted for half a year."  Erik's voice was slightly bitter.  "My father and his family didn't know about me until my mother died in an accident when I was five, and I was sent to live with them."

Erik smiled wryly.  "I surprised them, to say the least.  They weren't a really loving family to begin with, and I seemed to push them over the edge.  I had been happy at first to discover I still had family after my mother died, but I was stuck with a father who hated me, a step mother who ignored me, and a twelve-year-old half brother who resented me for throwing his family into turmoil.  I've never been hated for being born before."  Erik shut his eyes, remembering those miserable years.  Odd, it felt good telling all this to the doctor, even if it only turned Sid's opinion further against him.  "It didn't help that my brother was a genius.  I think my father expected me to be just like Douglas and be three years ahead of my class.  When I wasn't, he gave up on me and barely acknowledged my presence."

Dr. Sid didn't say anything, and Erik decided to shift gears.  He expected no sympathy from the doctor, and didn't want to drag this out and make the doctor think he was saying this for pity.  "Eventually, though, Douglas realized I wasn't so bad.  Probably because I worshipped the ground he walked on – he always did have an ego."  Dr. Sid seemed to smile slightly at this.  "When he entered the Houston Military Academy four years after I came to live with them, well, I wanted to be a soldier too, even though my teachers told me I was more fit to be a scientist than a soldier."

He paused to take a drink, remembering those long, lonely years in the Academy where he was again compared to his brother and was constantly reminded of his own shortcomings.  "I won't go in to that.  But I became a soldier, and I was posted in my home city of San Francisco."  Now Erik began to fidget uncomfortably.  He straightened out his limbs, showing slightly crooked lines of his arms and legs.  "That's when everything went wrong for me.  That's why I look like this.  It's also why I trust my brother completely."  Now he had Dr. Sid's full attention.

"When the barrier fell, my brother was at a conference in Houston.  I was still in San Francisco at the time, and when I learned what was happening, my first thought was to evacuate my sister-in-law and niece.  But they were too close to the fallen section of the barrier, and I didn't get there in time."  He could still see their faces, the fear frozen on their stiff bodies.  He'd wanted to fall to his knees and weep, but the Phantoms had been coming…

"I was helping to evacuate a building when disaster struck:  An escape pod had had its pilot killed by a Phantom, and it crashed into the building.  I was trapped under the rubble and crushed…"  He saw Dr. Sid wince, and for the first time there was real sympathy in the man's eyes.  "I pulled myself free, but I was horribly mangled…  And I was alone.  I'd been left for dead by my squad, and most of the city was empty of life by the time I worked my way free."  He shuddered as he remembered the feeling of abandonment he'd felt, compounded by the intense pain he'd felt all through his shattered body.

"How did you survive?"  Dr. Sid sounded intrigued, despite himself.

"Adrenaline, at first.  I somehow pulled myself clear and found a drug store.  I don't know why a Phantom didn't get to me…  I guess I was lucky, though at the time, I would have welcomed the release.  But I found a store, and took all the painkillers I could find, as well as food, since I didn't know how long I'd be there.  To be honest, I thought I'd die within the day.  I'd hoped that I would, anyway.  I certainly didn't expect a rescue, not with the Phantoms all around."

Erik took another drink, resting his sore vocal cords for a moment.  They'd been wounded when a jagged piece of shrapnel had scraped his throat during the collapse, and they still hurt to use.  "I survived by staying near a bio-etheric pipeline.  The Phantoms were made visible whenever they came near them, and they seemed to prefer to avoid them when possible.  So I survived, barely.  I think I was there for eight days, slipping in and out of consciousness, before a patrol came to pick up something important from their base.  To make a long story short, I heard their transport and went after them.  I think I would have missed them if they hadn't been attacked by Phantoms.  I was infected during the battle, ironically, and they brought me out of there."

The infection almost hurt worse than his badly healing wounds.  "They eliminated my infection, but didn't think I was worth salvaging.  After all, I couldn't walk, I couldn't talk, I was barely even alive.  But they told my brother, and he came to me.  He had lost everything:  Parents, friends, his wife and daughter, but he came to me.  And he did everything in his power to save me.  His mother was very rich, and he'd inherited all her funds, and he used it, every penny of it, to find doctors that could restore me."  _And he refused to let me waste it in suicide…  He knew I wouldn't have the will to use the knife once I was strong enough to wield it, damn him._  "He did it all to save me, because I was his family."

"That's… difficult to imagine," Dr. Sid said finally.  "But what does this have to do with Aki?"

Erik smiled faintly.  He'd wondered when the doctor was going to start getting impatient.  "My brother saw to it that I got scientific training while I recuperated – yes, I am aware of his feelings about scientists," he added when he saw Dr. Sid raise a skeptical eyebrow.  "But he also knew what I was really good at.  And he knew I wouldn't be brave enough to stand against him," Erik confessed.  "Anyway, he got me the position aboard the Zeus when I had recovered enough, and I was quite content to work up there."

Erik folded his hands, resting his chin on them.  Now for the difficult part…  "Then you and Dr. Ross proposed your spirit wave theory, and her infection was exposed.  My brother was livid…  He was so close to being able to use the Zeus.  And he was suspicious of Dr. Ross and her infection.  So he sent me all the information he found in your labs"

Dr. Sid's lips thinned.  "You were involved in convicting us of treason, then."

"Yes…  Though my real discoveries came afterward, when I spoke to my brother face to face, and we accessed your lab aboard the station together."  Erik hesitated.  "He had just done something terrible…  He'd dropped the New York barrier…"  Dr. Sid drew in his breath sharply.  "He'd gone a little mad, then…  he ordered me to ransack your labs… he was trying to justify his actions to himself, I think.  He wanted to believe you were the villain, not him…  that Aki really was in league with the Phantoms, and that she was wrong."  Erik drew his knees up to his chin.  He'd never seen his brother cry before.  Strong, arrogant, aloof Douglas didn't cry.  Oh, he had when his family had died in San Francisco, but Erik had been bed-ridden during that time.  He'd never seen his brother really weep before, and it had frightened him.  It was why he'd agreed to the general's order to search the lab.  "I didn't believe him… I hated him for what he'd done… Then we found your records, and everything changed."

"What do you mean?" Dr. Sid asked alertly.

"The wave pattern of the Phantom you had on record, and the spirit wave form… they didn't match."  He watched Dr. Sid's eyes widen.  "They weren't opposing, like you had said.  I don't know where you got your Phantom pattern, but it was doctored.  Douglas and I found the original one, as well as another taken by a doctor in Tokyo that had been sent to you after you left the Zeus.  Neither of them opposed the spirit wave fragments that you had collected.  True, we only found data for four of the spirits, but they didn't oppose any section of the Phantom spirits!  In fact, they almost seemed to enhance it…"

He wondered if Dr. Sid believed him.   He didn't care, and plunged onward.  "When my brother realized you were going to go on with your plan to use the wave, he realized he had to dispose of Dr. Ross and the wave quickly.  He'd realized by then, you see, that you were using the wave to keep Dr. Ross alive… and that it had to be affecting the particles inside of her."

"He'd insisted she was under the control of the Phantoms," Dr. Sid said numbly.

"Yes.  And my brother knew he had to do whatever it took.  He ordered a mass evacuation of the station, sending all personnel except a skeleton crew to leave at once.  I didn't want to go," Erik said softly.  I could see this was driving my brother mad… He needed me but he sent me away…"  Erik stopped himself.  "He knew he'd have to push the Zeus to the limit and that he'd probably die in the process.  But, before I left, he made me promise to take care of the situation if things went wrong.  He made me promise to destroy Dr. Ross, even though I didn't want to hurt anyone."

"That's why you tried to kill her," Dr. Sid said slowly.

"I'm sorry," Erik said, not sure if he meant he was sorry he'd harmed the doctor's protégé, or sorry he'd failed.  "I know you probably don't believe any of this…"

"You said Aki was different," Dr. Sid said.  "That's why I'm here.  I think you're right.  She's connected to these killings, isn't she?"

Erik started.  He met Dr. Sid's eyes, staring at the sober man in astonishment.  "You do believe me," he breathed.

"I believe something is going on here that involves the Phantoms.  I believe something is wrong with Aki.  But I don't believe all these killings are her fault…  She's been in the hospital during most of them."

"I'd wondered about that, too," Erik admitted.  "I thought maybe I'd been wrong about her.  But…  if it isn't a Phantom, then it would have to be something else affected by the spirit wave.  Doctor, was there anyone else that came into contact with it?"  He had a horrifying thought.  "It isn't you…?!"

Dr. Sid just stared, his mouth dropped in an 'O' of horror.  "Captain Edwards," he breathed.

To Be Continued…


	7. Embracing the Power

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the FF:TSW characters involved.  Only Erik is mine.

Author's Note:  I apologize all my updating is few and far in between.  I'm still alive, really!  I just don't have much computer time.  

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Six

Embracing the Power

Aki could no longer stay in the hospital.  The presence of the other, the one so much like herself, and the longing to join with it made it impossible to stay confined in that human place.  She was too grand to hide anymore, too magnificent a being to have to conceal herself among her prey!  And now she had a mate to share the world with.  She could hear him calling her to him.

With a gentle smile, she slid out of bed.  It was a beautiful day, with the rain finally stopped for the moment, though the sky was still heavy with clouds.  She yawned and stretched, feeling the gown's scratchy cloth scrape against the armored plate that had grown over her scarred flesh.

Aki chuckled.   _Wasn't the doctor surprised before she'd been drained of her spirit?_

Aki stepped over the husk of her last victim.  No one had disturbed her; she'd asked that everyone but the medical personnel stay out of her room to improve her healing.  And since the guard had changed during her examination the previous night, it would be impossible to prove that the doctor had never left the room.

But Aki didn't want to hide anymore.  She was more than human, more than Phantom.  Laughing lightly, she arranged the doctor's body on her bed, contorting the stiff limbs into a twisted position, snapping bone and tearing dry skin in the process.  "Pleasant dreams," she murmured.

Then she went to the window, opening it wide.  Long, whip-thin tentacles extended from her wrist, twining around the sill.  Then she nimbly leaped over the edge, her bare feet finding purchase in the building's worn brick siding. With the hardened claws of her toes, it wasn't a difficult climb.

Reaching the ground, Aki trotted down the cleared streets, toes squelching in the mud.  She met one soldier, a startled older man who had exchanged cheerful greetings with her before she'd ripped out his spirit and devoured it.

Why had she failed to notice before how good the spirits tasted?  How the life energies of another person gave her a heady rush and made her feel powerful?_  I was naive, _she thought.

_But no more.  My eyes have been opened._

She reached the graveyard of heroes quickly with her ground-eating strides.  Unerringly, she picked through the sludge and debris that had washed there to the lone monument in the park.

The ground had shifted; great mounds of slimy dirt had been pushed aside, revealing the hole that had been dug so recently.  A shattered coffin lay in the depths and, resting on his haunches in the midst of the splintered wood was…

"Gray," Aki said the human name softly.

The being squatting in the hole only vaguely looked human.  His body was plated in armor, and his limbs had lengthened and developed extra joints.  In some places, the flesh bulged out in grotesque swellings.  One arm had become a knotted mass of tentacles the length of her body, some of them flesh, some a flickering, translucent orange.  Only his face, crowned with tendrils of delicate, fibrous tentacles in place of his hair, was recognizable as the man she'd once loved.

He was, she thought, the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

They stared at each other for a moment, then his altered arm reached up to her, the thin tendrils wrapping around her.  Gently, he pulled her in.

*    *    *

Tears slid down Dr. Sid's wrinkled face as he stared out the window of his room.  _Aki… what have you become?  _He'd gone straight to his room after speaking with Erik, unable to face anyone else.

He hadn't wanted to believe the youth.  After all, he was General Hein's younger brother, and they had been close.  Sid wanted so much to doubt Erik because of that.

But he couldn't.  He wasn't so senile he didn't realize something was terribly wrong.  And he knew there was something strange about his young protégé, an oddness that had only increased after her stab wound.  _She's not Aki anymore._

What was he going to do about it?  Kill her?  He couldn't; he'd been her mentor, her surrogate father, her _friend, _for too long.  Strange or not, he couldn't bring himself to do it.  A cure…  he'd look for a cure, but deep down, he doubted one existed.  And even if he did find one, it could be too late.  It would be better to take care of Aki now, much as it agonized him to admit it.

_Perhaps Erik…  _Could he somehow arrange for the young man's escape to finish the job he started?  Could Erik do it?  Dr. Sid wondered if he had that killer's instinct.  He'd seemed so horrified after he'd stabbed Aki, even though he'd known then what she was.

And what about Captain Edwards?  Was he the other that Erik was certain existed?  Dr. Sid had examined the man's body himself; how could he be alive?  But he was the only other one to have touched the completed spirit wave.  _I could go check his grave…  _Dr. Sid shivered at the thought.  He was shocked to realize he didn't want to go…

There was a knock on the door, and Dr. Sid froze.  _It can't be Aki… She wouldn't knock, right?  _"Who is it?" he asked, straining to hide the quaver in his voice.

"Sergeant Wahlberg, from the hospital watch.  I have something to tell you."

_No…  _Dr. Sid's heart sank.  _It's starting…  _He got to his feet, bones creaking in protest.  He opened the door to face the soldier standing at attention before him.  "Yes?"

The soldier eyed him curiously for a moment, perhaps noticing the tracks of his tears.  "It's Dr. Ross, sir.  She's dead."

Dr. Sid's knees felt suddenly weak with…  shock?  Relief?  What did he feel about this?  "How?" he asked expressionlessly.

"Same as what happened to the rest of the victims," the sergeant said.  "I'm sorry.  Dr. Ross was a very heroic woman."

"Show me her body," Dr. Sid said.

The soldier led Dr. Sid to Aki's hospital room.  "We didn't want to move her without your say, thinking maybe you'd want to investigate."

Dr. Sid ignored the soldier, going to the bed.  The desiccated corpse seemed to be staring at him, the shrunken eyes deep in their sockets giving him an accusing look.  _You knew, they_ seemed to say, _and you didn't do anything to stop her!_

"It's not Aki," Dr. Sid said softly.

"What?  How do you know?"  the soldier accompanying him asked.

Dr. Sid touched the woman's crumbling face.  "She's built differently.  I'm trained to notice these things, remember?"  The soldier had seemed a little skeptical.  _Perhaps he thinks I'm a senile fool who only wants this to be someone else because it would mean Aki's alive…  If only he knew…_  "Has any of the medical staff gone missing?"  Dr. Sid turned from the stiff corpse with its twisted limbs and frozen scream.

"Not yet," the sergeant said.  "If that's not Dr. Ross, then where is she?"

"I don't know."  Where, indeed?  _Follow the trail of corpses…_

If he told the military, would they believe him?  Maybe he was one of the heroes of earth's victory against the Phantoms, but he had no proof, and Erik's story was pretty far-fetched.  He doubted he'd be believed, especially since Aki had been a victim of a vicious attack as well.

Until Aki showed the world what she'd become, there wasn't a soul on the planet who would go against her. 

Except Erik.

*    *    *

When the guards left, Erik rubbed the stinging welt on his cheek.  They were getting violent; something was going on, something they were taking out on him.  But they weren't saying anything in his presence anymore.  He hated being left in the dark!  He gritted his teeth in frustration.  What was going on?

Then he sighed.  What did it matter?  What could he do, locked up in a prison cell?  And…  Erik rubbed his arm, where the handprint burned into his skin throbbed.  The wound wasn't healing…  And if Aki was transforming, did that make her touch as deadly as a Phantom's?  He'd been infected once before, and didn't recognize any of the familiar symptoms, but something in his body felt a little… off, somehow.

The door suddenly flew open again, and Erik jumped.  Now what?

Dr. Sid stood in the doorway.  "You," he hissed angrily.  "What have you done with her?"

Erik's eyes widened, then he saw Dr. Sid sharply jerk his head to the hall behind him.  _Guards, _Erik thought.  _They're listening._

"Tell me now!"  The old man's voice rose sharply, and he slammed the door behind him, advancing on Erik.  

Erik sat silent as Dr. Sid ranted about how Aki had vanished from the hospital room, and how he was going to have to appeal to the Council to evacuate the volunteers, and did Erik know how much chaos that was going to cause?

A faint smile tugged at Erik's lips.  _You're putting up a good show, Doctor…  Telling me all I need to know and making it sound like an accusation.  _Then the smile vanished.  _But this is bad… very bad.  _What did Dr. Sid expect him to do about it?

Then the doctor pulled a knife from his smock.  He passed it to Erik, who took it hesitantly.  "Wait until they start to clear the city.  That will cause a lot of turmoil.  You'll be able to slip free."  Dr. Sid's voice was a whisper, and Erik had to lean close to hear.  "Do what you must," he concluded sadly.

Erik concealed the knife in his coat, then watched as Dr. Sid left, his posture stiff with rage.

"Nothing," he heard Dr. Sid scoff to one of the guards before the door shut.  "The boy's worthless."

Erik swallowed as he was once again left in silence.  _This is it, then.  It's all up to me now.  "Do what I must…"_

Even though it may already be too late.

*    *    *

Councilman Dickson was furious.  Furious at the way things were going, the murderer, Dr. Sid and his insistence upon an evacuation…  Things weren't going his way!  He'd intended for the restoration effort to be an example of the peace and harmony the Phantom's defeat gave the world, as well as being a way to boost his popularity for when a higher Council seat opened.

But this…  the attack on Dr. Ross, the mysterious murders, Dr. Ross's disappearance…   Dickson's dreams were going down the drain.

He hid his emotions behind a mask of calm as he appeared before the assembled volunteers, a nervous bunch who looked ready to break out into a panicked mob at any moment.

"I know the events of the past few days have put you all on edge," Dickson said, "but don't be alarmed.  A transport convoy is coming to take you all to the Atlanta Barrier City, and the military will continue to search for the ones responsible for Dr. Ross's kidnapping."  Word of the murders hadn't yet been confirmed to these people, though he knew they'd heard rumors.  Knowledge of just how many there had been would only panic them further, so he kept that information from them.  There were sighs of relief as the crowd realized they were leaving the crisis behind forever.  "The suspect we have in custody will be thoroughly interrogated when he's shipped to Atlanta," Dickson continued.  The crowd seemed further reassured by this; they were unaware that the man in custody was a half-wit mute, and God only knew how they were going to get information out of him.  "We're confident the military can wrap this up in a few days.  Then, we can resume work on restoring New York."  There; hopefully, he'd made the situation sound less dire than it really was.

"Who'd want to come back after this?" someone in the crowd muttered.

Dickson struggled to control his anger.  Dammit, why did everything have to fall to pieces like this?  "New York has always been one of the world's most important cities.  Its restoration will go a long way towards lifting the spirits of the world's people."  He knew he was falling back on his little pep speeches, but they needed to know how important this was, and that a small setback like this couldn't keep them down.  They'd faced worse, after all.  "Whoever is committing these crimes will be stopped.  This is a new world, and we want it to be one of peace – "

His speech was interrupted as the outer door opened, and low murmurs rippled across the crowd like a wave.  Was the evacuation starting?  Good; despite his brave show, he wanted to get the hell out of here before he became a victim as well.

Then he heard the name "Dr. Ross" repeated over and over again, and he felt a surge of relief.  _Thank God…  It would have looked bad for me if she'd died!  _In his relief, he failed to notice the unease that followed the doctor to the front of the room, or that the crowd was backing away from her as far as possible.

The crowd parted, and Aki stepped through the path opened to her.  She came to the podium, her smile half seen in the shadows.

As she neared, Dickson felt a vague sensation of something wrong.  She'd been stabbed recently; should she be up?  And she'd been kidnapped, hadn't she?  So why did she seem so…  calm?

His hackles rose as she passed him.  Without hesitation, she crossed from the darkened area into the spotlight Dickson had occupied only moments before.  The Councilman almost screamed when he finally saw her clearly.

She still wore a tattered nightgown that did little to hide her flesh…  or the armored plates along her chest and thighs.  Her limbs had lengthened and thinned, her fingers becoming long and spindly.  Her toes had hardened and thickened, and clicked softly on the tile floor.  Her face, framed by disheveled hair, still looked human, except for they eyes, which glowed orange-red.

She didn't say anything at first, her inhuman eyes sweeping over the volunteers.  They hadn't moved, seemingly frozen by their hero's monstrous transformation.  Dickson began to inch away, but a long tendril of whip-like flesh wrapped around his legs, tripping him.  He hadn't even seen the tentacle emerge from Aki's wrist, it had been blindingly fast…

The crowd began to panic, then, and run towards the open door.  Another figure, this one more disfigured than Dr. Ross, was framed in the doorway.  It shut the door behind it, then lunged forward with a shrill cry.

Aki smiled again, an empty look that didn't reach her horrible eyes.  She ignored the screams of the crowd as she crouched over Dickson.  "I intend to take my time with you," she said calmly, as a slow, unfamiliar sensation began to build within him.  "Don't worry, Councilor," she continued as the sensation became one of unbearable agony.  "It's for a good cause.  You're helping save the world, like you wanted.  Just not for your pathetic race."

Around him, the screaming grew louder and seemed to reach a crescendo as the other creature ripped out spirits with every swipe of its tentacles.  But Dickson couldn't hear anything over his own howls of agony as he was drawn, at last, into nothingness.

To Be Continued…


	8. Escape Into Chaos

Disclaimer:  I don't own the characters in the story, except for Erik.  Poor little Erik...

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Seven

Escape into Chaos

Something was happening; through the walls of his cell, Erik could hear the increasing bustle of activity in the corridors beyond.  _It must be the evacuation, _he realized.  He checked his knife, making certain it was concealed but within reach, then dropped onto his bed, schooling his face into the blank expression he'd worn for so long.

His door flew open, and two guards came into the room.  Erik examined them through his crooked glasses, hoping he didn't seem too curious.  _They're terrified!  _Their faces were pale, and one of them was visibly trembling.

"Get up," one of them snarled, and Erik could hear an edge of panic in the man's voice.  He longed to ask what was wrong, what had happened, but he remained silent, not wanting to give himself away even now.

"I said get up!"  The man's voice grew shrill, and he grabbed Erik's shoulder, jerking him to his feet.  "We're leaving before your friends can return."

_Oh, God…  _Something bad had happened, something worse than a few murders.  Erik allowed himself to be dragged into the corridor, following obediently as the two men moved at a fast pace towards the stairs.

"Can't you move any faster?" the speaker asked, giving Erik another sharp jerk.  Erik bit back a retort, and his eyes narrowed.  _So they want to see how fast I can be?  Now's the time to show them, before we join the others._

The preoccupied guards didn't see Erik draw his knife.  They didn't notice he was armed until Erik landed a blow on the silent guard's skull, his fist wrapped around the hilt of the knife to solidify the blow.  The man toppled with an "oof!" of surprise, and Erik shifted his grip on the knife and went into an attacking stance.

"I knew you weren't as dumb as you pretended to be," the other guard snarled, his hand flying to his gun.  Erik slashed the man's forearm, and he cried out as blood welled from a deep cut.

"Get out of here," Erik said huskily.  "Both of you."  He pulled the gun from the startled man's holster.  "If you value your lives, get the hell away from here, now!"

Keeping the gun trained on the guard, Erik stashed the knife with his other hand, then leaned to take the unconscious man's weapon.

The conscious guard looked dumbstruck as Erik loped away, following the stairs down to the first floor.  _I'm going to hurt tomorrow, _he thought, feeling the beginning of an ache in his legs.  _Assuming I live that long.  _He avoided the few others still in the building with relative ease, and was able to make it out the back way and into the city.

*    *    *

It was the most horrifying thing Dr. Sid had ever seen, even more so than the devastating fall of the New York barrier.  True, there had been more deaths in the fall than there were here, but they hadn't been caused by Dr. Sid's protégé.

When the screaming had begun on the floor below him, the doctor had herded those still on the upper floors t the top story, and barricaded them inside.  The small group - less than a third of the volunteers - huddled together, knowing that whatever was downstairs couldn't be stopped.  After all, no solid wall could deter a Phantom...

Miraculously, the attacker never came up to their level.  The soldiers who had come to evacuate the city had found them, and they had safe passage out of the building.

But they had to pass through the main room to reach the exit.  Bodies littered the room, some merely empty husks with looks of horror frozen on their features, others had been ripped into so much raw meat.  Blood splattered the floor, walls, and even the high ceiling.

"Oh, God," someone behind him whimpered.  There was the sound of someone retching, and only Dr. Sid's long experience with death kept him from doing the same.

_Why, Aki?  What monster possesses your body?  Why commit such an atrocity?  Were the Phantoms truly this evil when they were alive?_

Head lowered, Dr. Sid followed the refugees to the waiting transports. Armed soldiers escorted them every step of the way, though it was a short distance.

As he began to ascend the ramp into the nearest ship's interior, he stopped.  He turned, and something drew his attention to an abandoned vehicle a ways down the street.  A figure sat inside, face in shadow.  But it lifted a hand in salute, and sunlight glinted of the knife clutched in the fingers.

"Good luck, Erik," Dr. Sid murmured, wishing he could return the youth's salute without drawing the attention of the soldiers around him.  He wondered if he'd ever see Erik again.  "And Godspeed."

*    *    *

There were so few of them...  Erik watched the evacuees as they left the building, herded along by well-armed guards.  Not even a third of them.  He was relieved to see that old Dr. Sid had survived, and saluted the scientist when Erik thought he was looking towards the hiding spot.

Then most of the transports fired their engines and took off from the streets that had been cleared only days before by a much happier group.  Several soldiers remained behind, much to Erik's relief and dismay.  Relief because he wasn't alone in a dead city once again, and dismayed because they would make his job more difficult.  He couldn't afford to be caught; he was still a suspect, and he doubted he could persuade them to kill their beloved Dr. Ross.

Their first move would be to search the city, after they set up a base.  He would have to conceal himself while he considered a plan of action, and find a way to travel through the city without giving himself away.  The barrier pipes, he decided.  The massive pipes where the conduits transferred the power to the barrier threaded through the city in an intricate web, running through subterranean tunnels.  After San Francisco's fall, he'd stayed near them, knowing the Phantoms had been wary of them.

The quickest way to find access would be through the sewers.  The bio-etheric pipes were everywhere, cutting through the sewers, so maintenance hatches were placed inside of them.  All he had to do was find a way in.

He quickly located a manhole half covered by dirty water, and levered open the lid with a metal rod he'd pulled from some wreckage.  He wrinkled his nose at the stench that wafted up, but he climbed down into the darkness, dropping into the scummy water that had flooded onto the walkway from the rain.  He slogged through carefully, pausing once to scratch at the blisters on his arm.  The strange prickling sensation that had begun there was spreading.

_Shit.  It _is _an infection.  _Not a normal one, or he would have been overwhelmed by now, but the sensation was familiar enough for him to recognize it.

He clenched his teeth.  _So this is to be a suicide mission, after all.  _How much time did he have left before it ravaged his system and made this mission impossible?  Worse, what would it _do _to him?  This wasn't a classic infection.  What if it did to him what it had done to Dr. Ross or Captain Edwards?

Erik leaned against the slimy stone walls, considering his options.  He didn't have time to hide; he needed to find Dr. Ross right away.

*    *    *

Aki walked in the desolate ruins beyond the barrier, surrounded by collapsed buildings and wrecked vehicles shrouded in dust.  Her feet crunched the bones of someone long dead as she stepped forward, followed closely by Gray.

In her mind's eye, she could see the city's downfall, before it had been reduced to a few buildings huddling under a barrier.  The citizens hadn't really known what hit them; they were almost unaware of the magnificent creatures that had walked among them.  Aki shut her eyes and watched the images her Phantom symbiote provided.  She watched as men, women, and children were indiscriminately slaughtered as they were deemed unworthy to carry on the Phantom's legacy.

The Phantoms had searched long and hard for one whose spirit they could bond with, one who would give them the chance to return to life.  And they'd found her, perhaps the only person on the planet worthy of the Phantoms until the spirit wave had rewritten Gray's spirit.  Now she had a mate… Now, she could bring the Phantoms back to life!

She stopped when she reached a wide, empty street surrounded by dilapidated buildings.  Gray stopped beside her, the thin tendrils of his flesh gently stroking her unarmored neck.  Aki reached out one long fingered hand and brushed his shoulder.  She longed to speak to him, to tell him how magnificent, how beautiful he was, but her throat no longer worked that way.

The soft warbling of a Phantom drew her attention from Gray, and she raised her arms and threw her head back in exultation as the ghostly shapes of Phantoms, clearly visible to her altered eyes, began to fill the street around them.  Snakes, Metas, humanoids…  All the Phantoms were there.  A sound like a wet, gurgling laugh rattled in her throat as the creatures arrayed themselves around her, just as they had in her dreams.

It was time to remake the world for the Phantoms!

*     *    *

A wave of pain made Erik double over.  The sudden shift of balance was more than his weak legs could take, and he fell to the murky floor.

In the dim light provided by the grate above him, Erik examined his wounded arm.  The blisters had split and were leaking a foul-smelling fluid.  What was worse, though, was that the blisters had spread, almost up to his elbow.  And the dull ache beneath his skin had spread much further; his chest felt constricted, and he couldn't catch his breath.  The mysterious Phantom infection was spreading rapidly now, as if something had triggered it.

But what?  What was Dr. Ross doing that his body was responding to?

Erik remained crouched on the ground, pressing a muddy hand to his chest.  He'd survived worse.  He could ignore the pain long enough to complete his mission.  He had to!  His other hand strayed to the hilt of his knife, taking comfort from the weapon.  He was weak, but not helpless.  And he alone would be able to carry out Dr. Sid's final order.  He alone would kill the savior of the world… and its potential destroyer.

_If I can just find her…_Erik lurched to his feet and took a cautious step forward.  His leg held, and he took another step.  Good; he could walk again.  But where to go?  He didn't have time to search the entire dead city, and Dr. Ross could be anywhere… even on her way to a populated city.

_I'll have to draw her to me, then.  _It wasn't his favorite option, but it may be his only one.  A vague plan began to form in his mind.

But than a weird, haunting cry echoed down the dark tunnels, and Erik froze at the familiar sound.  There was a Phantom on the hunt, and it was very close by.

To Be Continued…


	9. His Dark Mistress

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square; no profit is being made from their use.

Author's Note: I've decided to finish this fic as soon as I can. There are only two chapters and an epilogue after this, so I'll do my best to get it done. Sadly, it's been too long since I last wrote this, so it's not what it could have been, had I had the motivation to finish it earlier. I'm soooo sorry… Feel free to point out flaws. I hate having so many unfinished multi-chapter fics at one time, and I get the feeling my reviewers feel the same way. I'm not sure what I'm going to work on next after this, yet. Probably "Life's River Shall Rise," which gets the most demands.

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Eight

His Dark Mistress

The city had a heartbeat. Erik could feel it with each step through the soles of his bare feet, a faint throb that struck up a discordant rhythm with his own racing heart. Curiosity compelled him to reach out to the curving walls of the empty bio-etheric channel, sliding his palm along the smooth sides and feeling the vibration under his fingertips.

_What is that? _There was no time to satisfy his curiosity; the hooting of the Phantom was louder now, echoing and magnifying as the sound traveled down the channel with him. There was nowhere to run; dodging into the empty channel had been a mistake, for there were no branchings along the pipeline. His only hope was to find the pipeline's terminus before the Phantom caught up to him. Assuming it wasn't blocked off. Assuming the Phantom didn't come up through the floor before him. Assuming his legs didn't give out… there was just too much that could go wrong.

The lurid red glow of the emergency lights lining the channel revealed a dark streak where he'd touched the wall. Startled, Erik held his hand in front of his face as he urged his tired body onward, and what he saw stole the breath from his lungs and made him stagger against the curved wall. Flesh hung off his fingers, revealing not bone beneath, but a hard, dark carapace and slender, too-long fingers.

He was changing too fast. He'd already had to kick off his shoes on the run, freeing his clawed feet. It had been working to his advantage since his escape, giving him strength and speed his battered body normally lacked, but now it was taking a toll on him.

The Phantom behind him made its ululating cry again, and Erik put on a burst of speed. It occurred to him that the alien should have caught up to him by now, so why hadn't it? Why was it still behind him?

_My God… is it _herding _me somewhere?_

He didn't have any choice but to continue forward, where the Phantom wanted him to go. There was nowhere else to go; there were no openings ahead he could see, in fact, there was nothing ahead… just a darkness at the end of the tunnel.

That, and the voices. Soft murmurings at the edge of his consciousness that grew louder, though no more comprehensible, with every step he took. It was an alien presence in his mind, but it was no more irritating than an itch he couldn't scratch.

And there must have been _thousands _of these voices. They throbbed in his head, matching rhythms with the vibrations around him. The Phantom trailing him was just one of a massive army of the foe that had supposedly been defeated. And here he'd been hoping the threat would end with the death of Aki… _Dr. Sid will get the word out. Everyone _will _be safe…_

_The world will be right back where it started, but at least there'll be a chance for survival. Life under a barrier is better than… death…Oh, shit… _The Phantom had driven him to the tunnel's abrupt end, an opening of twisted metal melted into bizarre shapes. The open space revealed about thirty feet below should have been the barrier control center, but it wasn't. Something else had taken its place.

Erik's stunned mind couldn't take in what he was seeing at first.

It was a _nest._

He could only gape at the sight spread out before him, in what had once been the heart of New York's barrier control center. A nest! It was still unfinished, but the arrangement of metal girders around a bowl-shaped depression was definitely reminiscent of a bird's nest. Which meant that, if he didn't destroy Aki soon, then there would be _more _of these Phantom/human fusions.

He backed from the lip of the drop-off, his heart pounding. While it was still too soon for anything to occupy the nest, it proved Aki had long-term plans.

He forced himself to think logically. If this was indeed a nest, then she and her mate would definitely come back to it. Rather than search the city for Aki, he could wait for her to come to him.

_And then what? She's already shown that a knife to the heart won't kill her, and I doubt bullets will damage her now that she's grown armor. _Erik eyed the drop from the broken edge of the tunnel where he stood to the nest below. _And getting to the nest so I can actually use any weapons will be almost impossible. They'd kill me before I got close enough._

_Or worse… I might not let myself hurt them. _He clenched his fist, causing the skin over his knuckles to split. More of the dull, armor-like flesh was exposed beneath the bleeding tears. _If I got close, and Aki saw me, she could command me to stop. And… and I would obey her…_

He needed something powerful. Something he could use from long distance. He needed something like a rocket launcher. Or a nuke. _Yeah, right. Wishful thinking._

Or was it? He was right below the USMF's main building; it had an armory. The city had fallen so quickly that he doubted anyone had been able to get to the weapons in time. Unless it had been cleared during the city's ill-fated restoration, the weapons were probably still sitting there, waiting.

Erik bit his lip thoughtfully as he stared down at the nest. The Phantom herding him had seemingly vanished, having driven him to this destination. The control center had an exit that should open into the USMF building; Erik leaned out until he saw a wide entrance with the shattered remains of a lift platform leading up to it. The reinforced doors were a mass of twisted metal, leaving an opening just wide enough for him to fit through. The only problem was that he'd have to skirt the nest to get there. While avoiding the Phantoms. And climbing a series of broken pipes and twisted shrapnel. _No problem, _Erik thought glumly.

There were few Phantoms visible, not enough to be making the din that pounded in his head. Either there were a large number of them here that weren't visible – very possible – or his growing connection to their world enabled him to hear _all _of them. Erik shuddered. _Don't think about it; just get to the armory and find something to destroy this place… and yourself along with it. _He flexed his changing fingers, listening to the alien sound the chitinous armor plates made when they scraped against each other. A chunk of flesh tore loose and fell over the edge into the abyss. He'd better do this _now._

Erik backed slightly down the channel, then sprinted forward, springing outward and to the right when he hit the lip of the tunnel. He bit down on his lip to keep from screaming as his body arced forward much, much further than he'd expected, thanks to his new muscles. He overshot the pipe he'd been aiming for, and was forced to grab on to a shattered girder, which bent under his weight. Before his hands could slide off, he swung himself forward, into the mouth of another channel.

_Okay… I'm going to take that little bit of acrobatics into account next time. I didn't know I could do that! _It was almost a shame he couldn't live like this; after so many years with a barely functioning body, this new strength and athleticism was… Erik quickly squashed the thought. He couldn't let anything get in the way of his goal. If he started to think this way, he might end up persuading himself that life as a Phantom-hybrid wouldn't be a bad thing.

The hooting of a Phantom from somewhere within the channel behind him set him back into motion. Another spring to a platform to his right, an inelegant landing that sent him head over heels and tumbling almost to the edge, a quick recovery, another leap… Splotches of blood and scraps of flesh marked his passage, but he didn't let himself think about it.

He reached the lift platform faster than he would have thought possible. The lift wasn't functional, but he was able to scramble up the incline without slipping. The claws on his feet were helpful in that.

Phantoms pressed in all around him; he couldn't see them, but he could feel them brushing against his skin, an electric tingle that raised the hair on his arms. They didn't hurt him; they couldn't, now. But he got the feeling they were displeased with him for fleeing. Atavistic terror made him want to run away, with no thought for where he was going, but he held his fear in check. The incorporeal Phantoms had no way of stopping him now. Aki, on the other hand… Erik didn't think he'd be able to resist the orders of his dark mistress. Could the Phantoms summon her? He couldn't take that chance.

So he ran as soon as he hit level floor, with his heart hammering in his chest and blood roaring in his ears. His muscles ached; they may have become stronger with his change, but they still had their limits. Fortunately, he didn't have far to go; his brother had taken him on a tour of the USMF building when he'd first been stationed in New York, and Erik seemed to remember the armory being in a sublevel of the building, and the lift shaft from the barrier control center came out on that level. He had a good sense of direction, and if he remembered correctly, the door to the armory was… there…

Erik drew to a halt in front of a heavy steel door and groaned. All doors were automatically unlocked when a city suffered a barrier breech; it increased everyone's chances of escape. But the restoration team must have reset the locks when they'd restored power to the USMF building, because a red light gleamed by the key card slot.

He could only stand and stare helplessly, his body trembling from exertion. _No, no, NO! _Now what was he going to do? Search the whole building until he found a carelessly discarded weapon of mass destruction? He wanted to fall to his knees and scream, to pound the floor with his fists, to vent in anguish at his failure.

Instead, he muffled the sob that rose in his throat and forced himself to think rationally. He needed to find a key card. The bodies of the solders that had died here had been respectfully removed by the reconstruction team, but perhaps there was still a card somewhere, like… like in an office… Erik's eyes narrowed. A general would have high enough security clearance to get into the armory. Could his brother have left a key card in his desk?

It was a long shot, but it gave him somewhere definite to look. And several officers had had offices near his brother's; one of them must have a card that could open the armory – if they hadn't all been searched. Galvanized into action, Erik sprinted towards the nearest elevator, and was relieved to see it was operable. He hit the number for the top floor, and spent the whole ride up pacing the narrow space.

Until he passed the tenth floor. He suddenly felt a chill, and _something _tugged at his mind. He wanted to press the button to stop the elevator, to get out and go to _her… Oh, God, she's in this building! _His hand had stretched toward the buttons of his own accord, and with an effort of will, he jerked it back before he could give in to Aki's siren call. As the elevator continued to ascend, her grip on his mind faded, and he sighed with relief.

The soft _ding _as the elevator's doors slid open seemed unnaturally loud to Erik's ears, and every scrape of his feet on the tile made him wince. The walk to Hein's office was a nightmare as Erik crept slowly forward, trying to make as little sound as possible, his senses alert for the presence of any Phantoms that could alert Aki.

But he made it without incident. The door to Hein's office was locked, but Erik knew the override code: it was Hein's daughter's birthday. He was relieved that it hadn't been changed, and the door slid silently open.

The office was untouched, as if none of the surviving USMF soldiers could stomach dealing with anything to do with the 'great traitor.' Erik went to the _faux _wood desk and began to rifle through the drawers. Most contained office supplies, or unfinished paperwork. One, however, was locked, an old-fashioned lock that required a key. Would his new strength be enough to force it open? Erik grabbed onto the drawer handle and gave it a mighty tug.

The fake wood splinteredand Erik released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He hadn't been certain it would work. Well, this was no time to admire his thieving skills, he chided himself as opened the desk drawer. He had to find the card key and…

There was a prickling sensation at the back of his neck, and Erik froze. He slowed his breathing, and wished his heart would stop pounding so loudly in his ears. Something stirred in the depths of his mind, and it was all the warning he had to duck under the desk and huddle as far into the shadows as possible.

_She _was coming. In the silence, he could hear the soft click of her armored feet, growing louder as she approached the office. She didn't slow to check the other offices lining the hall; she was making straight for Hein's office.

"Come out," her voice whispered in his mind. "Come to me."

Aki had found him…

To Be Continued…


	10. Not With A Bang

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own them. I own Erik, but that's it.

Author's Note: Ugh. Worst. Chapter. Ever. Kind of a short chapter, too; sorry. It just wouldn't come out how I wanted it to, no matter how hard I tried. Nearly done… nearly there… One more chapter (plus an epilogue I'm putting up simultaneously.) I apologize if it seems like I'm not putting much effort into these chapters; I've lost my motivation and inspiration for this story, and I don't think I'm going to recover it. But at least I'll have it finished, and everyone will see what I've been leading up to. And I'm going to have one more fic completed soon! I'm excited… After this, I shall focus on "Life's River Shall Rise" and the three-parter that comes after "Out of the Ashes," I think.

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Nine

Not With a Bang…

There was no way out. Erik huddled under the desk, trying to make himself very small, as if the shadows could hide him from Aki. His limbs seemed to lock up, his breath froze in his throat and his willed his heart to stop, for it was pounding so loudly he was certain Aki could hear it. She was almost in the room with himHe could hear her clawed feet scraping against the tile outside the door. And then… she stopped.

He felt the razor edge of her thoughts inside his mind, and he mentally flinched away. _Go away go awaygoawaygoaway… _He couldn't stem the frantic flow of his thoughts; even if he could will his body not to make a sound, surely his thoughts would betray him to her!

His thoughts… That was how she was tracking him, right? Could… could he use that to his advantage? Could she see him or hear him through the door, or was it only his thoughts that she sensed?

If he could control his thoughts, could he fool her? _Don't think… don't think about anything. _He shut his eyes, willing his mind to empty. _I'm not here. I'm nothing. Nothing. There is nothing here. Nothing._ Trying to think about nothing made _everything _run through his mind; it took more effort to think about nothing, to not think at _all, _than it did to formulate a plan.

It was quiet outside the door. He wouldn't think about that. Something scraped against the handle. He wouldn't think about it. The door slid open with a soft _hiss. _He wouldn't think about that. His mind was completely, totally blank.

There was a soft sound, the clicking of claws against tile. It took Erik a long moment to realize that the sound was moving _away _from him. But he didn't let himself feel elated; Aki was still close enough to sense his thoughts. He stayed under the desk for what seemed an eternity, until his body went numb. Even then, he didn't move, didn't dare even let himself _think, _until he no longer even felt the faintest tingle of Aki's thoughts.

His stiff muscles protested when he lurched into motion; he tripped and fell when he tried to scramble to his feet. At first, he thought that was due to sitting in an uncomfortable position for a prolonged period of time, then he actually _looked _at his feet. In the time it had taken for Aki to leave, his feet had become long and slender, with the heel well off the ground, like a dog's feet. He was changing so fast… Erik resolved right then that he wasn't going to look in a mirror. He was frightened that something unfamiliar and monstrous would look back at him.

Erik climbed unsteadily to his feet, clinging to the edge of the desk for balance. Balancing on the balls of his feet felt odd, and he hoped it wouldn't slow him down. Still gripping the desk, Erik opened the drawer he'd unlocked, rifling through disks and papers, searching frantically for the key card. _No, no, that's not it… C'mon, Douglas, don't tell me you brought it on board the Zeus with you… no… _His fingers encountered a slim piece of plastic under a pile of release forms, and he pulled it out. _Yes! _It was a key card of the highest level of clearance; it should be enough to open the armory.

He paused by the door, closing his eyes and concentrating, searching for any hint of Aki's presence. Nothing; she seemed to have vanished completely. That worried Erik as much as her presence had; now he had no clue where she was. He took a deep breath, then sprinted to the elevator, with all the steadiness of a newborn fawn. If Aki were to pop out of one of the offices lining the hall, she'd have no problem catching him.

XXX

He didn't let himself think as he skittered down the final corridor to the locked armory. Aki may no longer have been a presence in his thoughts, but he could sense Phantoms drifting silently through the building, joining their mistress in her search for him. If one of them detected him, it could alert her instantly. So he concentrated on _nothingness. _

The lock bleeped as he slid the card through the slot, and Erik winced at how loud it and the _hiss _of the opening door sounded in the silence. He slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. Motion sensors picked up his entrance, activating the lights. Erik blinked in the sudden brightness, waiting for his eyes to adjust before beginning his search.

The armory was… much, much _bigger_ than he'd expected, and he suppressed a groan. There were racks of Nocturnes, crates of ovo-packs, energy buoys, even massive spare weapons for transport vehicles. None of these would do Erik any good; he needed weapons that struck not at the spirit, but at the physical form. Such weapons had become rare once the Phantom threat had become fully understood. Still, there should be a stockpile of something that he could use; there had been hope that the scientists could find a way to make the Phantoms corporeal and, once that happened, soldiers would be armed to take them out permanently.

He found them near the back. He bypassed the Sonnets, the pistols used by officers. He needed something that could pierce Phantom armor, preferably something that exploded on impact. Erik went further back and there, against the wall, were several locked metal-and-plastic cages with racks of guns just visible through the clear plastic. Erik slid the keycard through the slot of the first, examining the weapons and ammo inside. _Nope, too light. _He went to the next cage, then smiled in satisfaction. No wonder they'd locked these away; the guns in this locker were _rocket launchers. _If these had fallen into the wrong hands, they could cause major damage. Or so those old video games had led him to believe.

Rocket launchers hadn't been extensively produced since the 2030's; that New York had six of them was astonishing. They were stored in a vacuum; there had been a _whoosh _of air when Erik had opened the cabinet that pulled at his clothes and hair. It was the only way to safely store the thirty-year-old weapons.

There wasn't much ammo that he could find, only four of the heavy rockets. _These will definitely cleave through a Phantom's carapace. _Erik couldn't contain a grin; despite the dire situation, there was something satisfying about being able to blow something up. And the fact that he'd be saving the world while he was at it was just an added bonus.

The gun wasn't heavy; by the 30's, weapons had considerably slimmed down. It wasn't until the need to fit ovo-packs to the weapons that guns as bulky as Nocturnes had begun to be produced. Erik slung the weapon's strap over his shoulder, then shoved the four rockets into a duffle bag he'd found on another shelf. He closed the cabinet, which locked automatically. There was another rush of air as the door sealed and the air was pushed out.

Erik sat on a nearby bench, examining the weapon carefully. Guns hadn't changed much through the decades, fortunately; trigger, safety, and scope were all in the same place and worked the same way. Loading the weapon was more awkward; Erik's military training had given him experience with Sonnets, but sliding a clip into the butt of a pistol was nothing like inserting the massive rocket. And it was a slow process, especially with fingers that didn't bend how they were supposed to. He was going to have to catch Aki and her mate by surprise, killing one then pray that he had enough time to load and take a shot at the second. _Aki… I need to kill her, first. I don't think her mate has her abilities. I hope…_

Now that he was used to his new stride, he was surprised to find that he moved much faster than he had before. When one ran, they naturally put most of their weight on the balls of their feet anyway; the only difference between that and this was that he couldn't rest his heels on the floor.

On the way out, he grabbed a Nocturne and ovo-pack – he couldn't risk running into any of the incorporeal Phantoms and having them report to Aki. Having the gun in hand made him feel more secure somehow; he hadn't held a Nocturne since San Francisco. Even after he'd long exhausted the weapon's ovo-pack, he'd still clung to it for comfort.

Erik began to retrace his path to the city's core. The weapons weighed him down, but not as much as they could have – another aspect of his change manifesting in a useful way. But with the good came the bad; the Phantoms in the building sense his presence and called out to him as they would another of their kind, and when he failed to answer, the Phantoms would investigate. He was fortunate that only the humanoid Phantoms had come thus far, if one of the huge Metas came, he'd have no chance of silencing it before it could alert Aki.

He feared the message may have gotten out to her anyway, when he couldn't destroy a group of them fast enough. The Phantoms seemed to be traveling in packs of three or four – no, more like _squads _on a search pattern. They were becoming more organized now, more efficient. The randomness of their attacks had always worked against them whenever they'd assaulted a city; if Phantoms worked as a united front, all the tactics the USMF had developed over the years of fighting would be worthless.

He had to end this _now. _He broke into a run, his legs covering the distance with astonishing speed. The ovo-pack went dead, and he tossed the Nocturne aside and took the rocket launcher in hand. Almost there… he double checked to make certain the rocket he'd loaded earlier was loaded correctly.

He planned to avoid the entrance to barrier control center; it was the obvious way in, and likely guarded. He planned to skirt around it and take another way in…

Then _it _stepped around the corner. A hideous amalgamation of human flesh and limb with asymmetrical proportions and bronze Phantom armor filled the hall ahead of him, and Erik skittered to a halt. The creature that had once been Captain Gray Edwards roared in rage, lashing out a mixture of solid and incorporeal tentacles that sprouted from its wrist, and Erik tried to dodge them all. One fleshy limb made contact, raising a line of blood on his temple and momentarily stunning him. Blood dripped into his left eye, blinding him. He blinked to clear it away, just in time to see another tentacle whipping down towards him. Erik sprang backwards, hands fumbling to bring up the rocket launcher. He had to make this shot count; he wouldn't get a second chance… he pulled the trigger and fired.

The rocket hit the creature in its heart. There was a burst of light as it detonated, searing the image into Erik's retinas. Erik blinked rapidly to clear the spots, and as the world slowly came back into focus, he almost cheered. Where the creature had been standing moments before, there were now only smoking chunks of meat and armor. _So you _can _die, you sons of bitches, _he thought with satisfaction. _One down, one to go._

A scream of anguish tore through his mind, and Erik doubled over in agony. _Aki… _The strength of her pain was staggering; her previous incursions into his mind were nothing compared to this! Erik instinctively covered his ears, although it would do no good at fending off a voice from _within _his mind. But the cries were so overwhelming… he couldn't think clearly…

Blood trickled from his ears, as if something had burst inside of him.

To Be Continued…


	11. But With a Whimper

Disclaimer: Erik is mine, but everyone else belongs to Square. Even if Square pretends they don't exist, as if the TSW characters were disowned… I would never have disowned them!

Author's notes in epilogue. Ugh… this is barely longer than the epilogue!

METAMORPHOSIS

Chapter Ten

…But With A Whimper

The screaming in his mind abruptly cut off, and the only sound Erik could hear was the rapid pounding of his heartbeat, and his own ragged breathing. _Get up, _he told himself. His body refused to listen; his limbs were spasming, an uncontrolled blow of his hand knocking the rocket launcher down the hall. _GET UP! _He flopped over onto his stomach, then pulled his protesting limbs under him.

Then his body when limp, and Erik heaved a sigh of relief. His muscles ached from the convulsions, and sweat beaded his brow, pasting his bangs to his forehead and into his tightly-squeezed-shut eyes. Carefully, he forced his eyes to open into narrow slits. What he saw, as if through a haze, made his breath catch in his throat.

Aki was there. She was ignoring him utterly, her attention focused on the steaming chunks of meat and exoskeleton that had been her mate. She crouched in the center, holding in her hands what was left of his skull. She made an inarticulate gurgling sound as she struggled to vocalize the despair Erik felt beating at his temples. She seemed completely unaware of him, and Erik struggled to take advantage of the distraction by pushing himself to his hands and knees, casting his gaze about desperately for the rocket launcher.

When he saw it, he barely suppressed a groan. It had skittered down the hall, past the corpse of the dead Phantom hybrid – and now Aki was between him and it. Erik started to back away, with half a mind to go back to the armory and find something else, when the ringing click of his claws on the floor drew Aki's gaze. Her eyes darkened when she saw him there, with something unidentifiable dancing in their depths. The force of her gaze made Erik freeze; even his heart seemed to cease its pounding.

"_You killed him." _The accusation was stated without the rancor he would have expected. She closed those commanding eyes, temporarily freeing him from her spell, and rubbed her cheek against the grisly remains of her mate's. _"He was strong, he was loyal, and he didn't fight his new nature because of his desire to be with me. He lost so much, just for me." _Then she dropped the head, and what was left of the skull shattered. _"Now he is gone, and I must find another to take his place."_

Erik closed his eyes, refusing to let himself meet her hypnotic gaze. And he struggled to once again empty his mind, to give her nothing to hold onto.

"_That won't work," _she told him, a faint chuckle echoing through his skull, the sound shattering into a thousand little laughs that filled his head and nearly defeaned him. _"I am your mistress; you cannot disobey me."_

No… she wasn't his mistress… she was a monster… a monster that he was here to kill! Finding a reserve of strength Erik didn't know he had, he lunged forward, past the startled Aki, and his fingers brushed the butt of the rocket launcher… Then hope was shattered, as Aki's armored foot smashed down on the barrel, denting it beyond use. Aki loosed one of the fleshy tentacles that were sheathed in her arm and knocked Erik into the wall, forcing the breath from his lungs.

Aki loomed over him, lipless mouth curving into an approximation of a smile. _"You're stronger than you look," _she said approvingly. Erik lashed out with one foot, catching her in the ankle joint and making it buckle. With an ear-piercing cry, she went down to her knees, and Erik rolled away, staggering to his feet with the help of the wall. His breath still came in ragged gasps, but he had no choice: He had to finish her somehow… If he ran, she would find him once his metamorphosis was complete. Even if he somehow managed to get to the armory, to find a new weapon, he didn't think he'd be able to get close enough to use it, not if she could capture him with her eyes, not if her thoughts turned his legs to jelly unless he expended all his strength battling her.

Erik's hands found the knife he always carried in his coat. She wasn't armored everywhere; if he could just ram it into her throat… Erik sprang forward, knife in hand…

But he'd seriously miscalculated. He had to keep his eyes open to see his target, and just then, Aki lifted her head to meet his eyes… What happened next, happened in slow motion, and Erik watched, a helpless observer, as his hand curved around, until the point of the knife was against his own chest… and then it thrust inward…

He couldn't even scream… all that came from his throat was a whimper.

And, just like that, his world ended.

Aki drove the knife more deeply into his heart, giving it a cruel twist that snapped one of his ribs. Blood flooded his lung, and Erik no longer had the breath to scream. _"This is no different from what you did to me," _her voice said coldly into his mind. _"You'll likely live. And if you do…" _That lipless mouth twisted into what could have been a smile. _"You'll have proven yourself strong enough to take the place of my mate."_

Erik's eyes rolled into the back of his head. As red-tinged darkness took him, he could only pray that he was as weak as everyone thought him to be…

To Be Concluded…


	12. Epilogue

Disclaimer: For the last time, Erik is the only thing I own in this fic. Everything else belongs to Square.

Author's Note: It's done! Complete! Finito! Another fic down, nine more to go… I'm sorry this story isn't well written at the end; I've had no inspiration for writing it, and finishing it was hard work without inspiration! Believe me, what I had originally envisioned was so much better. Ah, well…

METAMORPHOSIS

Epilogue

Another section of the barrier came online, another sector of the flawless night sky was forever obscured by the orange glow. Dr. Sid's heart was heavy at this sign that it wasn't all over, that the war might never be over. All his years of research, his life's work, had been for nothing. No, that's not true; he'd made things _worse. _The spirit wave and its presumed elimination of the Phantoms had given people hope, it had rekindled their wills to live, and led to a worldwide celebration of life. There'd been a unity between the peoples of every nation that the world had never seen before. Everyone had thought this would be the start of a new era of peace and prosperity.

Until the New York restoration team had returned with their horror stories of human Phantoms, stories of blood and death and betrayal. It was a crushing blow to humanity, and the city's mood was subdued. There had been reports of an increase in suicides as people realized they'd _never _be free of the Phantom threat.

Dr. Sid slumped against the window, closing his eyes and sighing regretfully. Breaking the news to the Council had been the hardest thing he'd ever done. The weeping and wailing had assaulted him as he left, and those with weaker constitutions broke down. More than a few people had snapped under the stress, the sheer _hopelessness _of their renewed crisis. And Sid was dangerously close to being one of them. He'd devoted his life to stopping the Phantoms, and now… now he was hearing whispers, rumors, that a small but growing part of the population blamed Sid. He was to be their scapegoat, it seemed. And… they were right. It was his fault. All of it.

His knees gave out, and he slid to the floor with a groan. He'd failed everyone. Could he even muster the strength to continue his research to find something that would defeat the Phantoms once and for all? Even if he found a solution, would he have faith in it? Would anyone? He'd failed once; he'd be branded a failure for the rest of his life, however short that may be. He could take another young scientist under his wing, to train to take his place, but after what had happened to Aki, would anyone want to work under him? Would he even trust himself not to ruin another fine young mind?

"_Don't be so hard on yourself, Sid," _a voice like knife blade to his temples whispered into his mind. Dr. Sid's eyes snapped open, mouth dropping in an 'o' of horror. Aki stood before him. At least, he assumed it was Aki; the twisted form was a mass of molten flesh, nodules of bronzy armory, and long, skeletal limbs. Only half of her face and the suggestion of curves were recognizable as human. _"You've freed me. Unlike the rest of these pathetic fools, I do not fear death. I _am _death." _

Dr. Sid's heart thudded loudly in his ears, abnormally fast. _"Because you were the instrument of my freedom, I have come to offer you a place by my side, as one of the chosen." _She leaned down, offering her long, bony fingers to him.

He didn't even give it a thought. "No," he hissed. "Aki, this isn't you. Fight it! We can still win!" There was no conviction in his words, only exhaustion.

"_Ah, but I _have _won. Even the one you sent to destroy me has seen the truth and joined me." _There was movement behind her, and melting out of the shadows was another hideous hybrid, this one's armor streaked with the scars that had marred his human flesh. A dark gash, weeping a black ichor, cracked the armor of its chest, though the wound looked as if it had healed somewhat. _Erik… _Dr. Sid thought with horror. The younger man's changed eyes were empty of everything except agony.

"_It's your choice," _Aki said. She took a step towards him, extending a misshapen arm towards him. His heart beat even faster, sending shooting pains down his arm. He tried to scream, but the pain was overwhelming. He thought he heard Aki's laughter echoing in his mind as the heart attack stole the breath from his lungs and made thought impossible. As darkness clouded his vision, he saw blots of orange take shape before his eyes: Phantoms. And just before hearing left him forever, he heard the screaming begin as the city began to fall.

The End


End file.
